Blogs from Oceania - page 7239

Spent 2 days at Uluru, Ayers Rock and had a great time. It's right out in the outback obviously and there's only one resort of hotels and hostels etc and one shopping area with one supermarket. There was a free shuttle bus that ran every 10 minutes or so and went round to all the hotels and to the shops so that was cool. We stayed in the Outback Pionner Hotel and Lodge and stayed in a 4 bed dorm. The dorm was ok, really basic (just 2 bunks) but clean. We had to trek through the resort though (which was just the outback - lots of red sand and trees) to get to the toilets and showers which was a bit scary at night! When we arrived we booked a sunset and a sunrise tour ... read more

Some things are never meant to be, like me diving a wreck in Australia. I turned up at the dive shop at obscene o'clock in the morning just to be greeted and told "im sorry, i've had to cancel the dive. Too much wind". wimps. I've dived in far worse wind than this. Theres more wind that this the morning after a chilli con carne. I suppose they know best tho... I suppose I will have to save the HMAS Brisbane for another day. I had a nice breakfast to console myself, an before long I was on a coach to Brisbane where I met up with Hanna (Han Nah), a friend I made in Ayr. We spent the afternoon wandering around Brisbane eating ice cream and enjoying the (lack of) sunshine. A lot of people ... read more

I worked half the day today. Sadly harvest is coming to an end. I will probably only be working a couple more days, but only if the rain holds off. It's sad to see the grapes rotting and shrivelling. I have a new passion for fruit. So what? Apples are ruined, I'm so glad grapes are not! I managed to cut myself today while harvesting. I mean, it's not a big deal, but there was a lot of blood. So much they pulled me off harvesting and made me sit down while I had my hand cleaned and bandaged. I guess some people have previously fainted. Anyways, if anyone wants to check out the winery I'm picking for their website is: www.villamarie.co.nz. Since I had the afternoon off, Corin and I figured we would go out ... read more

Saturday. Grim. Minimal response. Finally ended at Telstra Dome where thousands of footy fans walked past and only a handful got stickers. One guy got seven. At least, at least 30,000 people saw the design. Sunday. Couldn't face streets of Melbourne again. Went to Williamstown, old port. Some local festival. Many taken. Felt better. Decided to go to Ballarat - sacred site - only one hour away. There it was oh so quiet. Found Irish pub with music, old bearded guys playing traditional music. One guy gave me twenty. Went to "Peter Lalor" pub. I know Peter Lalor from Cottesloe, direct descendant. Ballarat flew him over for the 150th anniversary two years ago. Monday. Ballarat "Courier did interview and pic at Eureka Stockade site which should be out in tomorrow's edition. (Here I must mention that ... read more

We have finally made it back to Melbourne... We had a wonderful three weeks of roughing it in our tent and are glad to be back here. It's sort of a home away from our home. Anyways, where do I begin? We flew into the gold coast airport which is in a small town called Coolongatta in Southern Queensland. We walked from the airport to our first caravan park that we stayed in and just stayed one night. It was a beautiful place, the beach was just that, golden and the sky so big. We decided to move further north the next day but only made it as far as Surfer's Paradise which we found to be a horrible place. It is very touristy up there with heaps of high rises and casinos and shopping centres ... read more