theresnoplacelikehome

I left Rotorua and moved on to Taupo on Friday 11th November, after a very messy night out in Rotorua. I did manage to catch 11am and got the bus to have a 2 minute silence for Armistice Day, and we were probably the first people in the world to have a silence. Taupo is in the centre of the North Island and Lake Taupo is the biggest lake in New Zealand. The lake is surrounded by mountains (one of which was used as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings films) and the scenery is absolutely beautiful. However, as I was disgustingly hungover, I spent the day attempting to wander around town before giving up and spending the afternoon asleep. The hangover then turned into a full-blown run-down cold, cough and general lergy, and ... read more

On Wednesday I arrived in Alice Springs on a very nice Quantas flight with quite a few seats to myself. I arrived at my hostel at about 2pm and went for a walk around town. It was a very hot 38 degrees, but without the humidity of Northern Queensland it felt nowhere near as hot and sticky. Alice Springs is the largest town in Central Australia, but that does not make it a big town! It does have a couple of supermarkets and quite a few shops, but you can walk round it in about 20 minutes. There are a lot more Aboriginal people here than any other place I've been to; Cairns had a fair few but Alice is the town that all the Aboriginal communities in the reasonably local vicinity come to buy the ... read more

I spent two weeks in Agnes Water and had some of the most chilled, funniest and generally best days of my life. I worked for two hours every morning and then had the rest of the day to surf, kayak in the sea, lie in the sun and hang out with my new friends. Last Monday I went on a scenic flight to a desert island near Agnes Water where we were left overnight to fend for ourselves. The flight itself was one of the best things I have ever done; it was a tiny 3-man plane and the pilot, aptly named Bruce, was absolutely crazy! I arrived at the airfield and he took one look at me and said, 'I'm going to enjoy the inflight movie today', which thoroughly confused me until we got into ... read more

On Tuesday I headed out of Sydney with Oz Experience - a bus company that I'm doing all my travelling with here in Australia. We set off pretty early and there were lots of lovely people on the bus. We travelled up the Pacific Highway, stopping in various tiny towns along the way. My first overnight stop was at a surf camp just up the coast from Coffs Harbour (a small town known for growing bananas). The surf camp was a pretty cool place, full of surfer dudes from all over the world who are working there, and heaps of backpackers getting in a surf lesson. I went kayaking that afternoon and then chilled out with a few beers around a camp fire in the evening. The atmosphere was great, and we played lots of different ... read more

I've now been in Sydney a month and have really settled in to the Aussie way of life. I've found Sydney itself quite American in some ways; the wide streets in blocks, the big houses and cars and the general pace of life seems more like an American city than most British cities that I know. Sydney harbour really is the most beautiful harbour I've ever seen (and I like to think I'm an expert in this area...). Even on a cloudy day, going over the bridge into the city puts a huge smile on my face, and it is simply stunning when it's sunny. The days when I've been down to Circular Quay (where many of the ferries go in and out) have been lovely Winter days and there's been a fantastic atmosphere about the ... read more