Blogs from Oceania - page 7091

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney June 1st 2006

After many months of preparation, its finally take off day on our big adventure. Rachel and I decided to pack it all in and head off overseas, mainly because a great opportunity came up for us to spend 12 months in Tanzania in East Africa working at the School of St Jude’s just outside Arusha city near the base of Mt Kilimanjaro. With this as the main destination we thought it only appropriate to have a decent holiday before hand and spend some time catching up with family and friends (we also didn't want to only do that in UK winter, so Europe summer here we come). First up it’s off to the UK to catch up with family and friends for a couple of weeks. Then its off to Europe for about 6 weeks for ... read more

Broome to Darwin.....the hard way

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Darwin June 1st 2006

Broome Sunset

Cris and Claire

Weeks 10-12 (17th May - 1st June 2006) On May 17th we booked ourself into a rather tatty caravan park at Cable Beach. We built our house quite close to the camp kitchen - not our choice I assure you as the kitchen areas are usually full of loud tw*ts mouthing off and getting drunk on a sniff of cheap backpacker lager, refusing to go to bed until the early hours and generally keeping everyone else awake. We'd already paid for 3 nights as the truck needed servicing so we readied our earplugs for the nights to come.......that night in fact we were rudely awakened by a bunch of p*ssed up French guys (they're the worst in my opinion.....all that armpit hair can't be healthy) singing along to some 'Amelie' soundtrack throwback at the top of ... read more

Day 11 (June 1)

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park June 1st 2006

mt doom

jotoms

Day 11 (June 1) I slept in my camper at altitude and it was freezing, prob 25degrees or so. I'm practicing for Kilimanjaro. Anyway, I woke up and met the ride to the park entrance. The hike is 17km (~10miles) up between 2 volcanos. It's billed as the best one-day hike in the world, which I agree with. It took 7 hours but the views were amazing. I took at least 100 pics. I'm having a great time and sorry to know I'm down to 2 days left in NZ. I could easily spend 2 mos. I have a lot more to write about but am rushed so I will have to do it later. I also haven't had time to proofread this, as I pay for each minute I'm on here, so I'm sure there ... read more

You're about to jump out a perfectly good airplane Jonny, how do you feel about that?

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo June 1st 2006

Scuba Bruce

It was time to do what is what is possibly the cheapest skydive in the world for £50, I was to be taken up to 12,000 feet and jump out of a perfectly normal airplane. I can honestly say I was not that scared at the moment, After getting suited up and in the tandem harness I had a look at some people coming down and thought “that does not look too hard”. The plane taxied back to the hangar and we all got in sitting in front of our jump master who we would be connected to for hopefully the whole duration of the jump!. After pushing onto the runway we accelerated hard and being such a small plane it was a pretty quick take off and we were off and climbing and for the ... read more

I'm back

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland June 1st 2006

Martin39x

Hello again!!! !!! !!! I'm back in the big city now. just ben up to the Bay Of Islands and had a ball whilst walking, sand boarding and general sight seeing on the bus. The views just seem to be gettin better and better!!! Everywhere we went on the bus was just fantasic. From lovely sea views all the way up to great mountain shots. Whilst on the bus we went to a small it of rain forrest to see the 2nd largest tree in the world. then our travels took us all the way up to the most northen point of NZ (Cape Reinga) and saw where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasmanian Sea met (really freaky to see). We then had lunch on a very nice beach where I also did some body boarding ... read more

A great big run up...

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Airlie Beach June 1st 2006

Stig

Sorry that it's been a while since the last one. Normal excuse: travelling. So, let's see. What have I done? From Brisbane I went to Noosa, which is a well-heeled old people and families beach town with a nice park. It's supposed to be pretty nice but, frankly, it was dull. I thought it probably would be dull but I stopped there anyway because apparently I have no imagination. I went for a walk in said park which was a bit of adventure. I ended up scrambling through undergrowth to get to the town on the other side and eat in a cafe that was supposed to be good. THe cafe turned out to be much further away than I thought and was merely OK. Nice steer, Lonely Planet! On the othere hand, the place I ... read more

this is working

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Noosa June 1st 2006

ozflag

Tue. 30 Saw a school of dolphins. Their lunch, jumping desperately flew ten meters. One dolphin peeled off in chase and caught what looked like a garfish, very long. Wed. 31 May. Drove to Caloundra to see article. VERY disapointing. Picture in colour but only white stars on blue showing. Many inaccuracies including that 7000 stickers had gone out in Caloundra! I wish. Most of article was RSL rebuttal, catering to local retirees. Got green and yellow Artline textures for decorating back of stickers. Stopped at Coolum on way back. Response revived my spirit from dismal article. Went to Sunshine Beach. Long walk into southern part of National Park. Wonderful. Oh yes, and very cold nights indeed. June 1. Stickering surfing crowd at Sunshine Beach. Many birds. Noosa News reporter very on-side. Article to appear. And ... read more

New Car

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Albany June 1st 2006

new car 1

lone marauder

Kia Ora (Maori for hello), so after searching the papers for a few days, we found what we are hoping is a good deal. we got a 1988 subaru leone wagon. we were a little scared to buy it from the guy, he seemed a bit sketchy, at first the car would not start because he claimed the inside light was left on all night. so we jumped it and took it for a drive, that was the good part, everything seemed to work just fine. after the battery charged it started again with a bit of work. thats the only thing we are a bit worried about, but for 670 NZ$ we can't complain too much. although it was supposed to be 650 according to the paper we saw, but he claimed it was 699 ... read more

Working hills and gathering moss

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Queenstown June 1st 2006

Gathering moss

claireandmarc

Well, i hear you all cry what becomes of those two intrepid explorers who havent blogged for a while. As is the case at the moment work if you can get it, and not much at all if you cant. I'm still busying myself cleaning and liqour kinging (aren't i always) and slowly but surely getting funds rolling into the bank. I have however handed in my notice and will work up untill the end of June, before enjoying the Winter festival that comes to QTNZ (lots of activities and parties from what we can gather) and moving onto wellington. Not before time too i think, as although Queenstown is a nice place to come to, if you're working and not doing any of the spine tingling activities (i've done none even after 2 months - ... read more

The Goodbye Song

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney June 1st 2006

Opera House & Bridge

DarrenElwood

Well, it's come to this. The end of Scubapalooza is near. I leave in a couple of hours for the long journey home. The 3 weeks have been great. I did 27 dives which were all memorable. In total, I now have 49 dives logged & am already thinking about #50. People have asked me which was the best dive. It's hard to say. Maui had amazing visibility but the shark dives were definitely the most exciting. Sydney is a great city with tons to do and see. As you'll see from my photos, I can't get enough of the Sydney Opera House which continues to amaze me. I also had the great opportunity to see a concert in the Concert Hall, "Sing Sing" a fusion of West Papua indigenous music and Australian rock. Side-by-side they ... read more

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