Blogs from Oceania - page 7433

Well I didn’t exactly forget to update the travel blog but we’ve been pretty busy and internet cafés haven’t exactly been jumping out at us - unlike the local wild life. Speaking of which, one thing I did forgot was how annoying flies are - and judging by my families reaction after 15 years in Australia I guess it’s something you never get used to… So let me take you back to Oz as we are currently in India (where the computers are about the same speed as the cows in the street but a little less frequent). The last time I wrote I was heading down south of Perth towards Bunbury to surprise who looked after me many years ago. So I left the Old Fire Station in Freo and headed south, to say Brian, ... read more

Rainy rain rain! Yesterday was another washout. I don't want to blame Nelson itself, but the prospect of staying here and working for a few months no longer sounds exciting to me. Maybe it's the weather's fault, maybe I'm just too impatient and can't wait to get traveling again, but whatever the reason is I was really glad when Shaheen walked in yesterday morning and confessed that she was having doubts about staying here as well. So we decided to throw out our tentative plans (after all, they were only tentative) and see some more of the country before settling down for a semi-permanent job. We then spent most of Wednesday afternoon in the lounge with a big map of the South Island, a Lonely Planet, and notes with recommendations from all of our friends and ... read more

Useful tip: if arriving in major Australian city on Australia Day, do phone ahead for accommodation unless you enjoy playing out the "no room at the inn" nativity scene of course. We arrived at Perth airport at 5:40am on Australia Day, a national holiday where 400,000 people would be congregating in the evening for a fireworks display & we hadn't prebooked any accomadation. Actually, we found room at inn four, after deciding inn three was actually in the midst of a building site and, therefore, inaccessible and potentially noisy. Perth and surrounds were fantastic. The riverfront was buzzing the day we arrived-with stunt bikes jumping off ramps, aerobatic flybys, beach volleyball, and a stage with excellent Aussie bands- namely "The Avenues" and "The Panics". As darkness fell, there was an awesome firewor... read more

Phew....man, has it been a crazy few days on this Outback tour; i STILL can't believe all the things we've managed to pack into such a short time period, no doubt i'm gonna be tired for a long time to come!!! It's hard to know where to begin, but i suppose day 1 (20th Jan) is a good place to start...... I was picked up relatively early and chucked onto a mini bus of strangers...for the next 7 days these guys were to become my travelling buddies and good friends!!! Fortunately for me, i already knew Nikki (i'd met her on the previous day's Wine Valley Tour) and she seemed really friendly, and i met Claudia whilst waiting for the bus to pick us up - so far so good! We began our journey, on our ... read more

This is the first entry in my journal. Now you lot back in the rainy UK can log on and find out exactly what I've been up to complete with photos.... So here I am in Sydney! First impressions - hot!! More spacious, spread out and green than London (but has less character). Haven't been into central Sydney yet - Millsy lives in a nice southern suburb called Engadine which is surrounded by National Park - really green hilly bush and great beaches about 10 mins away. Reminds me a bit of America but without Americans :) Jetlag wasn't too bad - haven't had trouble adjusting to new time but not eating much as stomach seems to have shut down! (A big surprise for someone who eats as much as me!) The heat is almost too ... read more