Blogs from Australia, Oceania - page 4830

Checked into the YHA last night and spent 4 hours just walking around before crashing out. Woke up at midnight (some guy had his bed taken and he wanted to know who) but I was so gooooone that I woke up at 8am and we both apologized to each other (I kicked him away). At home, my computer has crashed but I hope it’s alright back there. Because I got heaps of (incriminating) photos from the Queensland leg of the Tour of Booty (and somehow I didn’t back them up!), I hope it can be saved. I just don’t want to lose all the photos-they were great times recorded! They really do look after the people on bikes and buses down here. Sydney could learn a thing or two about Brisbane’s and Canberra’s public transport ... read more

From Hobart, I was headed back to Melbourne with a flight from Launceston. My plan to see Cradle Mountain fell apart when I realised it was the last weekend of school holidays, and all accomodation there was fully booked. When I had initially arrived on Tasmania it was beautiful weather - and looking out onto the rain swept streets of Hobart I could only visualise sunny Launceston. Even though all the weather reports showed it to be poor weather across the entire island, I had faith that the sun was shining in Launceston - and so bought a ticket back there. For once my instincts were right - I arrived and instantly the slightly depressed feelings that had been welling up in Hobart disappeared. It was great.  Due to the previous weeks bad weather, the gently ... read more

I always require 8 hours sleep and I don’t really like anything less and anything more is a bit worrying! The humidity (more than anything) got me up (again) and it was a while before Jess could get up. I’m updating the diary at this time, since there’s nothing better that I can think of doing-well I can’t watch tele…Jess will wake up! Sleep is goooooooooooood! I’m not one to interrupt people’s sleep-for instance, Robbie never got up at 10am like he asked-I think that even though a bit too much sleep is a bit worrying, sleep is goooooood! Besides, Robbie is such a heavy sleeper! ;o) Today, Lib & Jess were taking me out for a bit of op shop shopping down at Maroochydore! And just like last year’s trip, there was the game ... read more

The weather did not improve upon arrival in Hobart, the state capital of Tasmania. The entire time I was there it rained, leaving me feel totally unsure of what to do - I really didn't want to go outside, yet I didn't want to stay in the hostel all day - so I went to my old favourite, another Museum!! It was another good museum, with loads of displays on snakes and spiders, but I've been to far too many - why do they all have free entry?! Hobart itself struck me as a poorer city than those I had already seen. Whether this was due to the fact that there were grey skies and rain rather than sun, I do not know - but the buildingsseemed older and not as well maintained as those inthe other ... read more

"Hot, rugged, dry, flies, rough, red, deserted, breathtaking, and stunning" are just a few words to describe my trip to the outback. This question was on our feedback form to be filled out at the end of our trip. Picking the hottest month of the year to go into the Northern Territory, was crazy; even locals don't travel to this region of Australia at this time. I spent 6 days traveling from Adelaide (Southern Australia) to Alice Springs (Northern Australia) visiting the Fliders Ranges, Cooper City, Uluru, Kata Kjuta, and Kings Canyon. Now to tell a little bit about my outback adventure... The first day was a lot of traveling and we managed to get a full group consisting of 24 people from all parts of the world and then there was "Bones," our impatient, ... read more