- 01.02.2002 -
CDC 5-Day Scuba Diving course - Day 3
Woken up early by drunk guys from the UK who had had a long night on the tiles. Checked out and headed out to the dive shop. Completed our written exams (I got 47/50 so I passed).
My dive buddy NIck had dropped out so I was happy because was prone to panicking underwater and pulled my respirator hose out of my mouth at 4 meters as he kicked to get up to the surface fast. I was assigned Leah (Canada) as my new dive buddy.
We got a lift to the docks and boarded the SUN-KIST. It took us 66km out onto the reef where the KANGAROO EXPRESS boat was waiting our arrival. No shoes or socks allowed on these boats so bare feet the whole time!
Natalie (Canada) went off on another boat as she was on the budget package. Then there were 6. Me and Leah, Justin and Natalie (Southampton) and Vanessa (Swiss) and John (London).
Our first dive of the day would be to a depth of 12 meters. I was pretty scared as this is 3 times that of our practice pool and you can not come up fast. You must swim up to 5 meters and wait 3 minutes before ascending slowly. This is so you do not get decompression sickness aka the bends.
We got suited and booted (flippered) and checked our buddies gear. Then we jumped into the ocean. Oh my god.. its like you've just dived into a large aquarium. The water is a brilliant blue and fish of 2 or more feet long are swimming around you. I ignored these though as my number one priority was my life so I kept an eye on my descent rate, air gauges etc and the other on my buddy.
I hated that dive but I overcame my fears and went on dive 2 to a depth of 8 meters. As a rule you make your first dive as deep as possible because the next one must be shallower than the first and so on. This is because of the amount of nitrogen left in your body after each dive and the amount of time you are on the surface. To calculate this we use dive tables.
This dive was ok and after equalizing and obtaining neutral boyancy at 8 meters we swam around. We saw beautiful coral, lots of fish, a stingray, sea cucumbers. one fish (angelfish) swam up to my mask as I was sitting on the bottom and looked at me as if to say 'what are you supposed to be?'. It was such an amazing thing to be down here. Its hard to explain, it was so amazing!
We practicised our skills. The salt water stung my eyes but I still removed my mask and mouth piece when asked. Later back on the boat we had a nice dinner in the galley and went over our dives with Brad. Tomorrows dive is to 18 meters off the side of a reef known as the valley of death because it drops to 30 meters and nitrogen narcosis is possible.
We watched the sun set and the fish swim in the lights of the boat. It was such an easy way to spend an evening. You are out on the Great Barrier Reef in the middle of the water on a big luxury boat sipping cold drinks while watching the fish swim around below you as the boat gently rocks you back and forth. I slept pretty good in my cabin.
- 02.02.2002 -
CDC 5-Day Scuba Diving course - Day 4
Wake up call at 5:30am and into the water by 6am. We dived to 8 meters then swam over the edge of the valley of death down to 18 meters. I was pretty impressed with myself. I kept my breathing light and monitored my depth and air every few minutes and managed to swim at a decent speed ensuring I did not hit any coral or catch any fish by accident(such as the lionfish) whose sting can kill you.
As we were swimming a giant green turtle swam by. Man, I can't describe what its like to be down here. It is like being on another planet. There are beautiful corals, fish of all kinds swimming around, turles, rays, sharks. Its like the programs you see on the Discovery or National Geo channels except you are actually there in this tranquil underwater world.
Breakfast at 7am then another dive at 8am to 15.5 meters. The next dive was our final exam dive and when we got the ok sign we held up signs to the underwater camera that we had wrote earlier on underwater boards. Mine said 'Hello from down under!'. We then got into position and performed a 6-person inverted pyramid. This was all captured on a video which we got at the end. I am going to post mine home so my family can gape at what I have done.
We all passed and got presented with our PADI cards. I am now a qualified open water diver!
The boat then moved to another reef a few km away. There were a few shouts and everyone started running to the front of the boat so we followed. We were moving pretty fast and so the wake from the front appeared fun to a group of dolphins so they were swimminmg just in front of the boat and jumping out of the water occasionally. We all stood there watching in amazement. They can swim with such ease, so fast. They played games with each other to see who can last the longest until one by one they angled right off the starboard bow until only one remained. A final jump then he was gone too. Another moment from this trip that I aint going to forget anytime soon.
Now we were certified we could dive without an instructor. You still cannot dive alone for obvious reasons. Leah was leaving today so I dived with Justin and Helen. We worked well as a team and later I was told that they had said I'd saved their asses. What had happened was they were enjoying the scenery and did not realise they were ascending. Me being paranoid (I like living) I was keeping an eye on the gauges and we were at 5 meters so I grabbed Justins flipper and signalled him that they were too high and they looked at their gauges and swam back to me. If you dive deeper than 5 meters you must surface to 5 meters and wait 3 minutes before ascending slowly at no faster than 0.3m/sec otherwise you'll get the bends.
Our last and 4th dive of the day was a night dive. We were issued with torches and then dived in. Let me just say that I have never been so afraid for so long before. I had no night vision and the goggles were not to my exact prescription so my visibility was almost zero. I followed the others by their lights and when we surfaced I was almost out of air. I must of been breathing pretty heavy and I got lucky. No more night dives for me unless I buy some proper goggles!
- 03.02.2002 -
CDC 5-Day Scuba Diving course - Day 5
Up at 5:45am. After last nights dive I wasn't sure if I was ever going to dive again but I overcame my fears and dived in with Justin and Helen. We dived to 15 meters and swam around for a bit, coming back to the boat at 5 meters along a coral reef before surfacing.
I skipped the next dive in favour of going snorkling with Shawn and two girls. It was pretty fun and you saw a lot from the surface but mainly fish so come the next dive I was back in the water. We dived to 10 meters for 32 minutes swimming around. I'm getting the hang of swimming at a constant depth under water. I am going to miss this.
Grabbed lunch then lazed around on the sun deck with everyone. We leave for Cairns in an hour. Aw sod it. Grabbed my gear and dived in for one last snorkle. I just lay there floating on the top of the water looking down as big Wrasse, Angelfish and Bass swam around me. This is the life!
I heard screams and looked up. Some girls were snorkling without wetsuits off the stern of the boat and the boat screw were throwing bread crumbs at them. The girls were screaming curses as the guys laughed because all the fish were jumping out of the water around the girls to get the free food. The smallest fish is a foot long so imagine them all over your body! They dont bite but the girls did not find it amusing.
We said our goodbyes and boarded the SUN-KIST for the long ride back. When we got to the harbour we raced two other fast boats to get to the dock first. We thought we were going to capsize as we were in the middle of two boats wakes.
A short bus ride back into town and then I checked back into the hostel. I grabbed my free lunch then headed to the Woolshed where Natalie (Canadian sound supervisor on films such as THE SCORE) and Shawn were. Brad the instructor turned up and we started in on the beer. Phil and another guy who were instructors started giving us free drinks. Basically they were red snakebites. I felt dizzy and was the first to leave.
- 04.02.2002 -
Woke up early in need of water! Shawn popped around later and we went to the Greyhound terminal to get bus tickets to Sydney. Its a deal for backpackers where you pay one fee from Cairns to Sydney but you can stop off on the way. So it looks like we are heading south down the east coast from tomorrow. Our route will probably be Townsville, Arlie Beach (and Whitsunday Islands), Rockhampton, Hervey Bay (and Fraser Island), Brisbane then onto Sydney (possibly Byron Bay on the way).
We passed STA Travel and I figured we'd pop in so I can check on flight prices to New Zealand. Its not cheap and I need proof of onward travel or a return ticket. STA have a deal on and so I queried a ticket to NZ then onto LA and leaving New York. The whole deal came to less than what I'd paid so far to get this far on my trip! So I booked the ticket. I leave for Auckland, New Zealand on the 5th March. Then towards the end of April I leave for Los Angeles. I then have a 90day allowable stay in USA and Canada and leave for Heathrow from New York around the end of July, start of August.
It means I finish my trip a bit earlier than I originally planned but I'm aiming for a fun active trip rather than a longer one. If I keep spending money I won't last 8 months! So maybe I'll be back in time for my Dad or sisters birthdays.
I pulled out my world map and made a rough outline of where I might travel in North America. This is what I've come up with so far: LA, Vegas, Grand Canyon, San Franciso, Seattle, Vancouver, Yellowstone National Park, Denver, New Orleans, Toronto, New York. I think I'll think some more about it so I'm not zig-zagging so much.
Happy birthday Mam! xxx
After updating this journal online I walked into the night market and got my hair shaved down to a military cut again at 'Ali Barbers'. At the hostel I ran into Vanessa (in another tight bikini) and chatted for a bit. Someone had exchanged the complete Lord of the Rings book at the exchange counter so I went and got a book I've read and exchanged it. Cool! Now I can finish reading book 3 in peace (since finished it and gave it to Shawn to read).
Met Shawn at the Sports bar for dinner. Treat myself to Nachos with all the trimmings. Yum! Went back to the hostel for a bit, read some then headed out to call Mam to wish her a happy birthday.
Pictures from the Great Barrier Reef:
The Group - John, Me, Vanessa, Brad, Leah, Justin, Helen
Underwater pyramid (I'm left in the middle row)
Hello from Down Under!
Sunrise over the reef. Time to dive!
A giant green turtle
Bye! See you later!
- 05.02.2002 -
Townsville, Queensland
Checked out, grabbed some supplies at Woolworths where I ran into Shawn. We managed to find a shop that sold Dr.Pepper! Its rare in Oz. We checked in at the Greyhound desk and sipped our cold drinks.
The drive to Townsville was a fair few hours and inbetween towns there is no radio reception so I was forced to watch THREE TO TANGO. I've seen this so many times its now painful to watch.
Checked into the Globetrotters backpacker place at Townsville. It was more economical to club our money together and get a twin room with air-con. We then booked our next bus trip at the bus terminal for tomorrow.
We headed towards Castle Hill after wandering through town and finding it dead. Castle hill is a 2km steep climb up to the highest point in the area. I was exhausted. The view was good though.
First off I'd like to say that Townsville is a ghost town. Its dead. There is hardly anyone around at all. It was just plain weird. Its like a sci-fi movie where you arrive in a concrete city but there is no one around. Plus the restaurant prices were bad! We grabbed a subway then because it was cheap Tuesday at the cinema we watched SPY GAME.
- 06.02.2002 -
Airlie Beach, Queensland
Caught the greyhound bus to Airlie Beach. The video for today aboard the bus was WHAT WOMEN WANT. Checked into Reefos hostel just outside of town (its a one street town). Our two-night accomodation was free because we were booking a sailing trip through them.
Things started to piss us off at this point. The free room had bad air conditioning. They never tell you of the hidden costs up front either. We don't mind paying for things if people tell us. Its when they hide costs from you until after the sale that pisses me off. For instance, there is a 15 dollar reef tax. There is a 12 dollar luggage storage fee (the only hostel that we've ever had to pay this at) and because of the jellyfish in the area we are going that are deadly (someone died last week) you need to hire a stinger suit which is a further 12 dollar fee.
Grabbed a bite to eat, had a nap then we headed to the bar for happy hour. A Maui guy was the live entertainment tonight. Hecant sing, just hums and can't play the drums. Sigh.
- 07.02.2002 -
Aboard the FREIGHT TRAIN - Day 1
Up early. The 3 girls sharing our room had been sleeping for the last 24 hours and had hardly moved. Maybe they were all partied out? We left them in peace as we checked out. (We cunninly managed to avoid the luggage fee Yey!).
After breakfast we got the curtesy bus to the marina where we ran into Justin and Helen. Chatted for a bit, got our stinger suits and boarded our boat. Its a fast sailing yaught that when not races does sailing trips for tourists.
We soon set sail and began to relax. No shoes or socks allowed on board so bare feet again. Nice. Onboard were our skipper Mel, ships-mate Maddy, and Kim the cook. Also there was David (Dundee), Paul (Dublin), Carey and Christa (Calgary, Canada), Pippa (Essex) and Carina (Germany).
After a while we reached a nearby island where we anchored then got into our stinger suits and applied suncream to any exposed areas to prevent stings. Then we all got into a dinghy with an outboard motor and went to a cove where we snorkled among the coral.
Back at the yaught we sunbathed as the boat sailed effortlessly through the water at about 30-40 degrees to the water. It was very relaxing! The sun was shining, there was good food and good company.
We pulled into a bay for the night and dropped anchor. After a late meal we drank beer while mellow music (Moby) played. man this is the life! Looking up at the stars, lying on your back on the deck of a yaught as it gently bobs up and down in the bay of an island with no one else around. Me and a few others grabbed swags and slept on deck under the stars.
- 08.02.2002 -
Aboard the FREIGHT TRAIN - Day 2
Rise at dawn, breakfast then set sail for Whitsunday island. We dropped anchor just off shore and road the dinghy to the beach where we walked across beautiful squeaky white sand, over sand banks, through the cool water and then into the forest. There was a long walk through the forest to lookout point. Lizards ran across our path and birds called in the trees parrot-like. I swear it felt like I was in an episode of Treasure island (or Cutthroat island) as we walked through the forest.
We finally reached lookout point and gazed out at the shores of the islands, the beautiful white sands and the deep blue sea. We could see our boat moored off to the left and we could also make out a shoal of stingrays bathing under the sun in the shallow bay below us.
By the time we got back to the beach other tourists had arrived so we all sat down on the sand and read a little or updated our journals as we baked under the sun.
The wind was pretty good so we set sail for the barrier reef at a fast pace. We all held on as the boat hit about a 45 degree angle and we tried not to slip off the deck into the water. Our stuff that was not secured below deck was thrown around.
We arrived at the reef and went snorkling. Me and Pippa swam among a shoal of exceptionaly large fish.
It was getting late so we headed back to the islands. The wind died down to nothing so we had to use the engine to put-put back. We dropped anchor on the west side of hook island. More beer, good food and another night under the stars on deck.
- 09.02.2002 -
Aboard the FREIGHT TRAIN - Day 3
Up early, breakfast then snorkling amongst the coral. There was this little yellow zebra fish that stuck to me like glue. It was lazy as it swam in my slipstream. Paul saw me jerking around and asked what was up. I explained and he laughed as I turned 360 and so did the fish. It hung to my mid-section swimming about 1cm from my body. As I picked up speed swimming it would swim just in front of my goggles. As I stopped it would stop. Look at me then swim back down and stay around my waistline.
I figured out that if I swam up to another person swimming and then stopped, the fish would go to that person and stay with them for a free ride. So I passed it onto Paul and he passed it onto Shawn who thought it was great. Our new friend stayed with us until we got out of the water into the dinghy.
Later we went to a deserted beach on hook island's east side. It was beautiful just like you always thought it would be. Except it was 40degrees, there were huge flies and there was a stingray in the water. But the beauty of the place outweighed the small annoyances. We lazed around in the shade eating fresh fruit and talking.
Sigh. Its our last day sailing and we don't want to go back! Its a long way though so we relax on deck, sleep, read, eat and generally act lazy. We arrive at the harbour pretty late.
Shawn and I grabbed dinner in town them met the others at the yaught club for beers. We then went to Reefos. We checked in and then met the others at the bar. The live entertainment tonight was pretty good. A guitarist who played a mean Creed.
The others left leaving me, Shawn, Carina and Amy (Japan). We chatted for ages and Amy was amazed that Anime was popular in the West. She was talking about her culture and comparing it to others.
Back at our room we found that we had company. Brendan and Greg (Australia) had checked in. One left a window open so the air-con did not work so well.
- 10.02.2002 -
Checked out and caught the curtesy bus to the greyhound stop. caught the bus to Brisbane. Paul and David live in Rockhampton and said it was dead and pretty boring so we'd decided to skip it. Plus we'd dived, snorkled, swam and sailed these last few weeks so other than spending more money, there was no inclination to go to Hervey Bay so Brisbane it is. Its an overnight bus so that saves on a room fee anyway.
The videos they put on was THE WHOLE NINE YARDS (argh not again!) and THE WEDDING PLANNER (argggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!). I tuned out with my walkman. Later they put on MEET THE PARENTS.
- 11.02.2002 -
Brisbane, Queensland
We finally arrived in Brisbane at 6:15am. Most hostels were booked or expensive but we got lucky and found a cheap place with a twin room that had a balcony, fridge, bathroom, and a TV! Luxury indeed!
We ran into Justin and Helen again. Are they following us? Hmm. Walked into town, grabbed a subway. Back at the hostel we had all-you-can eat lasagne then veged out in front of the TV. Saw the first episode of ALIAS. Cool. (Someone tape it for me!!!)
- 12.02.2002 -
Grabbed a chinese in town then headed to the public library and read up on Canada. Used a 20min voucher to read some emails. then sold my 'Lonely Planet SE Asia' book at a book store.
Went to see MONSTERS INC at the cinema as it was cheap Tuesday again. Back at the hostel we veged out in front of the TV again. Its great to have access to a TV!
- 13.02.2002 -
Slept in. Caught the curtesy bus into town. Put my camera films in to be developed.
Headed to the library where there was an extensive Sci-Fi magazine section. Had a free read. Grabbed a cappuccino and drank it in the square outside the town hall as I watched city life pass by. These big white stork-like birds were everywhere eating McD's leftovers.
Grabbed some essentials from Coles and some Guinness from a bottle shop. Headed back to the hostel. Another lazy evening with the TV. The girls in the next room were smoking pot and trying to cover it up with lots of lemon-fresh airfreshner.
- 14.02.2002 -
Shawn woke early and paid for another day. The reason? There's some good programs on TV tonight. I think he'll miss watching The Simpons. If we stayed in a hostel a bed would be about 20dollars. For a few dollars more each we get luxury accomodation. Sometimes it pays to travel with someone.
Caught the bus to town. Logged on for a bit. Picked up my films that I'd had developed. Some good photos but the camera was wasting film so going to post it home in my next package home and get a replacement asap.
Walked around Brisbane CBD then went into the museum and art gallery as Shawn was tired so he went back to the hostel. They charge extra to see Monet's at the art gallery but I never bothered. I've seen loads in Paris.
On the way back I picked up some cider from the bottle shop. Another night with the TV! I slipped out later and booked our bus tickets to Byron bay.
- 15.02.2002 -
Byron Bay, NSW
Took the bus to the transit centre and checked in. Was told to remove my pacsafe system. Greyhound are starting to ban them because they harm the drivers hands. Damn. While waiting for boarding call the smell of coffee from a nearby stand was to overpowering. Grabbed the best cappaccino I've had in Australia. Yum!
No rest stops for 4.5 hours! Got to Byron Bay and found out that it was packed! No accomodation in any hostel. Only a few rooms in out of town motels starting at 90bucks! We only wanted to do the lighthouse walk so we booked tickets to Sydney, checked our luggage and did the walk after lunch. Saw mountain goats on the cliff edge and dolphins swimming in the waters below. Came back and got on the overnight bus. This bus was packed and we'd managed to get the last seats. damn. No sleep for me.
- 16.02.2002 -
Sydney, NSW
Arrived very early. Checked into a place that is not so cheap so looking for somewhere else today for tomorrow. Walked around town. There is a film crew in town and we were informed they are shooting The Matrix 2 and 3 so we are going to see if we can spot anyone famous later on.
Grabbed lunch (pie and veg) at a food court in town. Found BACKPACKERS WORLD and I used another free voucher to get free internet access. Went to DYMOCKS which is supposed to be the largest bookstore in the southern hemisphere. It was pretty big spread over three floors. Bought Lonely Planets guide to New Zealand.
STA Travel was closed so walked around for a bit and found another bookstore having a sale. Saved 8 dollars on Lonely Planets guide to the USA. Damn these books weigh a lot.
Found out later that the film crew were filming an American biscuit commercial. Boring! Back at the hostel we lazed around reading, drinking Dr.Pepper and watching the Fifth Element.
- 17.02.2002 -
I was woken early by the sound of screeching tyres and a bang. Outside a taxi stood in the middle of the crossroads with its front bumper hanging off. It was 2:30am so I went back to sleep.
Woke up later, got packed and checked out. The next hostel was a few blocks up town up a hill. Sigh. This area is known as Kings Cross.
The room was cheaper, smaller but the TV had more channels and the picture was clear. Priorities! heh.
We got voucher packs from our hostel. The first voucher we used got us a free breakfast at Krave around the corner. A nice big breakfast! You had to pay for a drink though so I got a 3 dollar cappuccino which was pretty good. (By now you'll know that cappuccino is my favourite hot drink. Mc Donalds chocolate milkshakes are my favourite cold drinks).
After Shawn confirmed his flight we headed to the art gallery. They had some pretty cool works of art and some modern stuff too. Plus some damn weird art that involved mirrors, rocks and rusty nails. Plus some pornography which some guy was taking photos of. Hmm.
A short walk across the domain park and we were at the state library which had an art exhibition upstairs. There was a display of art from highschool students which was pretty amazing. Some guy had drawn large wall-size anime comic strips about this guy going insane and killing lots of people. I liked it anyway. Plus there was a couple of short films. One was about conformity and the other was about childrens nightmares. Both were worthy of being put on TV.
We killed some time and rested up in the library itself. While Shawn went off to read about the cosmos, I read about film directors. I figured since I could name most film titles, the actors and the plot from off the top of my head, I should at least know the directors names. It was no surprise to learn that Steven Spielberg was numero uno but it was a surprise to learn that Ridley Scott (and his brother Tony) were from the UK. Ridley was responsible for Bladerunner one of my top ten favourite films.
Walked around Kings Cross and I treated myself to icecream. It started to rain so we headed back to veg out in front of the TV. Ed TV was on but I'd seen it a dozen times so I read a little and listened to the radio while Shawn watched it. I can't get 'Whenever wherever' by Shakira out of my head. (It contains weird lyrics like: 'lucky that my breasts are small and humble.. so you don't confuse them.. with mountains').
- 18.02.2002 -
Woken early again by people driving up and down the street outside in their suped-up cars revving their engines. Looked outside. It was still raining. Hookers were strolling up and down the sidewalks. Well we are on one of the main streets in the heart of Kings Cross.
Woke up later at 9am. God I am getting lazy. I'm falling back into my old habits with access to a TV and private room. As soon as Shawn heads back to the states I'll be back in the dorms with no TV, waking early and keeping a watchful eye on my stuff. Such is the life of a traveller.
Its still raining and showing no sign of letting up so I headed around the corner to the nearest STA Travel office where I ended up spending over 2 hours! I booked my flight to New Zealand and moved the date forward to the 23rd. I also booked my USA internal flights. It was a cheap ticket but its kinda stupid in that it uses Dallas as a hub so I fly in and out of there a lot. I changed one hub to Chicago as otherwise it would drive me nuts. As it is I have to go to Dallas from San Francisco to get to Vancouver. How stupid is that?
Anyway, my itenerary looks like this now: SYDNEY - AUCKLAND (stay here for 7 weeks touring New Zealand then back to Auckland) - LOS ANGELES (bus to LAS VEGAS or car if I can afford it. Then over to SAN FRANCISCO) - VANCOUVER (via Dallas D'oh!) - DALLAS (Fort Worth aiport then bus to Austin and back) - NEW ORLEANS (Gunna hear some delta blues!) - CHICAGO - TORONTO - NEW YORK - LONDON.
That was a nasty chunk taken out of my credit card. Each flight comes to way less than 100ukp though including taxes so its not to bad. All I can say is they better have alcohol and decent movies on board!
We decided to visit FOX STUDIOS so we headed out of Kings Cross down Oxford Street which has gotta be the longest street in Sydney! Its also the gay area of Sydney (they'd had a Mardi Gras here yesterday apparently). It was kinda weird because you are walking along and every other shop is a sex shop. I also saw my first transexual manniquinn which was er.. weird. Plus there were men walking around with breasts and er.. lets just say lots of operations have been going on in this town.
We finally found FOX STUDIOS after geting lost in a park. It was not impressive at all. Basically it was a shopping precinct with hardly any people and no filming going on whatsoever. In fact I don't think it is used as a film studio. Its just a tourist trap. I flicked through a few books, walked around and played on a PS2 in the SONY store then we headed back. I grabbed a unlimited drink (1.35 dollars) from Hungry Jacks which is actually Burger King. Then we headed into a Chinese internet room which has 50 PC's and internet access is 3 dollars for as long as you want. Cool.
So I will be heading to New Zealand soon. I'm going to post stuff home that I no longer need as I intend to do a lot of walking in NZ and my pack is too heavy at the moment. I'll also be posting some postcards.
Australia has been fun. I've seen the cities. I've travelled on The Ghan, camped (and swam) in the outback. Taken long (very long) bus trips. Dived the Great Barrier Reef. Sailed around the Whitsunday islands and swam and snorkled in coral bays. That's more than most of the locals have done! And yep, I'll be back one day.
After abusing the unlimited net access for about 4 hours (people were using it for 1-2 hours only, amateurs!) I headed back to the hostel just in time to see the start of ALIAS. It ended in a cliffhanger. Bugger.
- 19.02.2002 -
10:30am finally woke up. Woah lazy or what? Grabbed breakfast at Kraves. I could not score any more free vouchers so I had to pay this time.
We headed into town and after a while we split up. Shawn went in search of a book to take on his long flights home and I went to change some travellers cheques. I'm trying to not use plastic for a while.
We met up later and walked to The Rocks. After grabbing a drink he went for a wonder to buy his folks some gifts. I went up onto the Sydney Harbour bridge and walked along it and back then down to the Opera house and around that. I then walked across the domain and to the State library where I met Shawn.
We walked back and grabbed a meal at a Thai street cafe. It was almost as good as the ones in Thailand. We watched lots of junk TV like Charmed and Snoops before calling it a night.
- 20.02.2002 -
Up early after Shawns alarms went off. He got packed and was ready for his long journey home. His 5 months of travelling are over. My travels have only just begun. It will be a long time yet until I am back home.
We shook hands and wished each other a safe journey. I saw him off onto his shuttle bus to the airport then went back to the room. Check out time is not until 10am so I sorted out my stuff, dumped my clothes in the washing machine and watched some boring morning TV before checking out of the twin and into a dorm room. Sigh. Back to non-luxury accomodation.
I was determined not to be down today. When you meet new friends and hang around with them a bit, its always a bummer when they move on. More so if you've known them for a month and have been travelling with them for 3 weeks. Still, I'm hopefully going to visit Shawn when I get to Texas.
I grabbed breakfast at Kraves (it really is good) and then went next door and bargained the camera store guy down by 3 bucks to develop my last roll of film. I was in a bargaining mood. I'm posting the camera home coz its knackered. I'll get a new one in NZ.
I then went into town and spent ages looking for postcards and birthday and anniversary cards. Got a good deal on postcards when bought in bulk. Took me ages to find the other cards I needed. I also sold my Lonely Planet 'Australia' book for 12 bucks. Not much but its less weight to carry. Got a lot of stuff to post home via sea mail (3 months) as well to lighten my load. Stuff like photos, my diving video, stuff I no longer need etc. I also have to get rid of my Lord of the Rings book as its too big.
Went to the library and they recognised me. They offered me a membership card to save me filling in forms. Cool. Read the rest of the book I started yesterday saving myself the 20bucks it would of cost me to buy it. I took a break to grab a meal in town before returning.
I guess I was killing time today. I have 4 days before my flight and I dont fancy paying a fortune to see stuff that I have already seen in other museums and walking is starting to hurt. So sitting down and reading seemed a suitable alternative.
Back at the hostel I met Arjen (Holland) and a guy from San Francisco whose name I barely caught and now can't remember. We talked for a bit and when they split I came here to log on. Its cheap entertainment I guess. Plus I am hoping that some of the guys back home are on-line and feel like chatting.
- 21.02.2002 -
Lazy day today. Grabbed breakfast with the guy from Big Sur whose name I still don't know. Wrote out my postcards in my room then headed to STA Travel to pick up my plane tickets. Only one set had arrived and I leave in a few days! They said to come back tomorrow.
Walked to the art gallery. Saw my favourite pictures and a lot more a they had opened a few galleries that were not ready last time I was here.
Posted the postcards and some cards. They were puting up huge TV screens and speakers in the park. Apparently something is happening but not until after I've left the country. Damn.
Posted a package home via seamail. Had to change a travellers cheque to pay for the postage. Grabbed an Indian dish for lunch and listened to a busker outside playing some pretty good acoustic guitar pieces. Like I said. A lazy day.
Stayed in town until late and while I was walking back bats were flying overhead and rats were running across the path. Ah the Australian nocturnal wildlife is present even in the cities.
Met a Canadian girl who offered advice on Canada. She sounded 'out there' in a like wow man thats kind cool ya know? Kinda way.
Grabbed a cider and ran into Arjen and his mate Michael (Holland) who spoke good english but insisted on talking Dutch in front of me even though Arjen said he was not being polite. He figured he should only speak english if he wanted to ask me something.
Later Arjen and me talked. He was having a cool time in Australia but his girlfriend back home gave him a dear John phonecall. To top it off he was posting adverts to sell his car in hostels and when he got back it had been stolen with most of his stuff including souveniers and all his holiday photos. His Mam cried on the phone when he told her. He's over it now. 'Hey man ya gotta move on ya know?'. I like his relaxed surfer attitude to life. Life's to short.
- 22.02.2002 -
Grabbed breakfast again with Nicko. Yes I finally know his name! He's a pianist in a band back home in Big Sur which is south of San Francisco. He's very bohemian. Last night he took his travelling guitar and hung out with some drunks singing and playing while some prostitutes joined in with the singing. He said it was unreal and he got some good lyrics for songs he's writing.
I was low on cash and determined not to spend the few dollars I had left carelessly. I caught up on my email with a free 15 min voucher I had and then walked into town after visiting STA who still did not have my tickets and I leave tomorrow! I went into the ANZAC war memorial in Hyde Park then to the Queen Victoria building and down to Darling Harbour.
Walked through the wharf, over pyrmont bridge with the skytrain overhead. Walked around the marina and looked at the classic sailing ships moored there. Went through harbourside and past the Chinese gardens and then back to STA where I was findly handed my tickets to New Zealand. Yes!
I booked a shuttle bus to the airport for tomorrow. On the way into town I realised that I had a 20dollar key deposit. Yes! I had money for tomorrow so I treat myself to a Chinese meal and a cappaccino.
There were a fair few people sleeping on park benches as I went home. I guess its not so bad in Australia as the temperature does not get as cold at night like back home.
Back at the hostel Nickos stuff was gone. I went to HUNGRY JACKS downstairs for an unlimited LIFT drink and to read my Lonely Planet New Zealand book.
- 23.02.2002 -
Checked out and stored my bag then swapped LoTR book for a smaller one. Went into town to get some NZ money but couldn't so hopefully I can get some on arrival. Posted some more postcards and came back. St.Mary's cathedral ws open for once so I went in and had a look around. I had a look around in the crypt as well. Back in Kings Cross I logged on as I don't know when I'll be online next and I have time left.
The shuttle bus driver was from Iraq and complained about Asians all the way to the airport. Apparently they are a pain in the butt. We had to wait for some Koreans who took their time so he just left them.
Got my can of flyspray confiscated at the airport as a deadly weapon. 'Its highly flammable sir' said the check-in girl. 'Is there anything else?' she asked. I resisted the temptation to say 'just my uzi'.
The flight was pretty dull. The food was awful. Who said Air New Zealand was good? They do not have JD just some bland whiskey. The film was Zoolander which has to be the biggest pile of pants that I have ever seen.
We landed in NZ at 11pm. I am now GMT+13 hours. I used the curtesy phone in the airport to find out that every hostel and cheap hotel was fully booked thanks to something to do with cricket. Do I follow cricket? No.
I find the information desk and they have a few rooms in a hotel. They are 99dollars each. Damn. I don't want to sleep in the airport and there are no guarantees that there will be any rooms available tomorrow so I hand over my card.
A free bus ride to the hotel and I check in. Wow! This place is amazing. For the equivalent of thirty uk pounds I get a small apartment with sunken bath (yey a bath!), a TV with movies, coffee point, lounge and big double bed.
- 24.02.2002 -
Auckland, New Zealand
Well I soaked in the bath, watched movies and used up all the tea and coffee (ok, I pocketed most of it along with some soap and shampoo as you do). I didn't want to leave but I couldn't go on paying these rates even though they are cheap compared to the UK equivalent.
I called around and got a reservation in a hostel. After checking out I had to take the free bus back to the airport to get the shuttle bus into town. I checked in to my small dorm room and then went to a quiet park bench as the hostel was noisy. I read up on NZ and worked out a rough itinerary for my 7 weeks here. Now all I have to decide is how to get around.
The bus terminals gave out price information but it didn't seem that great. I could buy a cheap car but taking it to the south island and back would cost 400 bucks. What to do what to do. I'll try to decide by tomorrow. My sisters friend lives here but I emailed her and shes holidaying on the south island. Damn.
- 25.02.2002 -
Ran into Andy who asked about my plans for the day. We decided to travel around together. We headed to the Art gallery which was free today. The current theme was comics and I was happy to find a Calvin & Hobbes book to read through while Andy watched a history of cartoons flick.
It was a long walk top the museum so we chatted about Ipswich and other stuff. New Zealand is a lot like Australia with its street and park names. We reached the domain and headed into the museum. We spent about 3 hours there. The place was massive with lots of interactive pieces. Its well worth a visit if you ever get the chance.
After a long walk back we grabbed an Indian meal at Cheemas, down the street from the hostel. Then we headed to the hostels bar in the basement called Embargo. It was 2 bucks a beer from 7-9pm.
Andy was sporting his IPSWICH T-shirt today so people were coming up to him and asking him where he was from. Whether it was Ipswich, UK or Australia. Usually they turned out to be from somewhere like Stowmarket. They do say its a small world don't they?
Andy needed to check his email to see if his mate had sent any updates about where they were to meet as he was flying into Christchurch tomorrow. He paid for an hour but only used half so I used the other half to check my email. We then grabbed a few pints at the GF bar before heading back to the hostel where Andy shows me his Easter Island photos. He loved it there.
- 26.02.2002 -
Said bye to the couple from MANCHESTER who were in my dorm and leaving today. I booked my ticket with STRAY a new company starting up by the previous owner of Kiwi Experience. They offer you a trip around both the north and south islands and tend to go off the beaten track where the other tours do not go.
I saw Andy on my way out so we said bye and he promised to drop me an email. Maybe we'd meet up in the south island or grab a beer if I am ever back in Ipswich. I then headed out to look for a cheap camera. I was told at a camera store that there is no such thing. All I wanted was a manual wind-on cheapo rather than an all-singing-all-dancing automatic compact that will break after the fourth roll of film has gone through it.
I struck gold at a place called the Warehouse. I bought a manual compact HAMINEX for 20 bucks with a free FUJI film and battery for the flash. I've used HAMINEX before and they are pretty reliable for the money. I then picked up a coast-to-coast walk map from the DOC office and was about to start it when over the radio on my walkman it said that the Queen was at the Viaduct not 400 meters away.
I go to the viaduct and saw the Queen etc travelling around the harbour on a boat. I followed the crowd and stood at the side of the road on the other bank and after 15 minutes she went passed in her car with the window partly down, waving, not more than 2 meters away. Cool. Ironic that the first time I get to see my own Queen in the flesh is when I am on the other side of the globe.
I then headed off on my walk through the city, across the parks and volcanoes. I got lost once and ended up at the entrance to a park where the Queens garden party was about to start. I guess I looked to scruffy to get in. The walk ended up taking over 6 hours and was over 16km with only one stop to get a bite to eat. But I finally arrived at the south coast of Auckland. Now to get back to the city.
I caught a bus driven by the Maori's answer to Nigel Mansel ala female. We cornered at 60km and weaved through traffic. She also relied heavily on her brakes. It was fun though.
Back at the hostel I met John and Vanessa and their daughter from Jersey. We talked for a bit about where they are from and the fact that they plan to cycle around the north island.
- 27.02.2002 -
Bay of Islands, NZ
Up early and caught the STRAY bus heading north to the Bay of Islands. Our guide and bus driver was Lisa (Kiwi). On the bus was Irene (Canada), Sophie (French Canadian), Helen (UK), Uilie (Swiss), Anna, Charlotte and Jo (UK), Nele and Annalies (Belgium).
We drove north for an hour and stopped for breakfast and to see possums and to pet baby lambs (which I declined beng a manly sorta guy ya know). Three hours later we arrived at Paihai the major town in this area. We only stopped one other time and that was to look at the public toilets in this particular village because they were made out of mosaic pieces. People get bored a lot here.
We headed to the beach for some swimming and lazing about after checking into the hostel. Back at the hostel we lazed about in the spa where we met Knut (Norway). Me, Uiele, Charlotte and Helen spent the evening in the bar talking.
- 28.02.2002 -
Up at 7:15am, onto the bus and a 1 hour drive to a cafe before continuing on for 2 hours to the cape where we walked to the lighthouse at the most northern point of NZ. Then it was off to the beach for an hour where I realised I had left my swimmers at the hostel. Damn, I went for a paddle anyway.
We drove to these inland sand mountains where barefoot, we were issued boogie boards and had to hike to the top of this 150m high sand mountain. We then dived off the top and slid down the slope at high speed on the board. Annalies had stopped in front of me so I crashed into the back of her. It was fun so I headed up to the top again and went faster this time. To slow down you dig your toes into the sand behind you. Now I can add sandboarding to the list of things I've done.
On the way back we drove down 90 mile beach (which is only 45 miles long). It feels weird to be driving down a beach for ages looking at the surf to your right. We stopped for a paddle/swim and then continued on. We stopped for a coffee and the driver phoned ahead a food order. When we got to the next town we sat at the docks eatcing fish and chips. The shop here sold my favourite orange drink from Thailand, Mirinda. This area reminded me a bit of Suffolk.
Back at the hostel we dived in the spa which was boiling hot. We met Steve (London) and Andy (north of San Francisco) then headed to the bar.
There were a lot of people from Wales here. Helen (Cardiff) and Joesph (Bangor) were holding this conversation with some others about England. Helen's Mum hates the english because we are apparently arrogant. What she means is they only show english sports on the BBC and none from Wales. I mentioned my Uncle Dai and the fact that I had a mate from Wrexham (just to join in the concersation) but they said that the people from Wrexham were more english than welsh. (That true Ray?).
David Kei
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