Happy Australia Day!

Australia day is a wonderful thing to be involved in, in fact I’m starting a petition this week to have a national England day. I mean it won’t be the same, instead of drinking beer on the beach all day we’d have to sit in groups and complain about the weather, but still we’d get a day off. ANYWAY I was lucky enough to celebrate Australia day in Perth at the famous Cottesloe beach. Australians really are into the whole Oz day thing so there were events a- plenty from hour long fireworks to zorb balls, bouncy castles to world record attempts. The day started with beers in the hostel and zealous application of Australia themed temporary tattoos which I’m still trying to scrub off various body parts (better than Luke though who applied his to his FACE and still looks like a muppet). Then it was off to the beach. Down at Cottesloe they were trying to break the world record for the most people lying on lilos in a chain. A worthy use of time I’m sure you’ll agree! We were going to join in with the frivolity but unfortunately it was a 30 dollar entry to buy a Havaiana lilo so we bowed out (just as a side note I am entertained by the love of Havaiana products out here, which are actually manufactured in Paraguay. The flip flops over there cost about 30p, here they’d set you back about 20 quid. Obviously Jack Wills products are reasonably priced the world over.) Instead we opted for sitting on the beach with some goon (box wine) and lay on the beach for the day. Lots of fun with all the guys and the girls from the hostel- lots of singing ‘oh Canada’ (the filthy Cans hating to be outdone by anyone in the National pride stakes) which took me back to the nightly rendition in the bar in Cuzco. It was an awesome time and my high resistance to alcohol means that I made it all the way to 9pm before falling asleep. Luckily I had already seen the fireworks which were indeed glorious- go Oz!
Post Australia day ‘I’m never drinking again vows’ I was stone cold sober right up until Friday night when we had organised a night out with the crew from work. I was going to blow it off because i was still feeling rough from celebrating this fine country, however finding out we were working a Saturday shift we weren’t told about drove us to the red wine and I enjoyed my first experience of a post work Ozzy night out by relaxing in the pool with many many glasses of wine and take away pizza.
In other news my room has now acquired a young Swiss guy who insists we all call him ‘Teabag’, who does yogic headstands on his bunk each morning.
So so far Oz continues well. With the slight exception of today when I accidentally wore water resistant suncream instead of waterproof suncream. After 60 minutes in the pool I now have a full understanding of the importance difference between the two. And a speedo sign imprinted on my back. Win.

Running on sand

Since my last post I've done a bit of a beter job at settling into Oz life: I've experienced my first beach BBQ, my first night out in Fremantle, my first swim in the ocean (its not as cold out here as in Melbourne) and I've accidentally added 'eh' on the end of a sentence more than once (which is more Kiwi than Ozzy, but close enough) AND miricle of miricles I still have managed to escape getting sunburned! I mean I have to wear factor 30 to bed, but still I'm quite proud.
The hostel has become incresingly friendly over the last week as well- I now have a group of friends to spend my non working hours with. I finally had a break through on this front with several beers and a pack of Uno cards- suddenly realising that everyone else was waiting for someone to organise an activity that would give us an excuse to talk to each other. I think this is a result of there being too many English people here- the much more diverse South Am backpacker culture would rip your arm off on the way in to befriend you. Anyway, that hurdle hurdled and we were away... enjoying my first night out here, but suprised that flip flops and boardshorts are unwelcome pub going attire (unlike England where they are welcome)... who knew the Australians were so highly strung?! I wont be doing much Amber Necter sampling out here either as the prices are through the roof- think London priced and add a couple of quid for a beer!
Since that night out there have been daily trips to the beach or swimming which is nice as I only work evenings and afternoons so can go with them all in the morning.
Work continues well- I've even managed to persuade my workmates to come for a night out this Friday after work... they've never done it before but we're planning on getting a box of Goon (box wine) and then heading into the bright lights of Freo! You never know... it migh become a weekly thing!
And the hostel fills up with new people everyday: I'm currently sharing my bunk bed with a violin playing Texan (very odd- doesn't take off his boots to sleep and insisted on playing a drinking game subistituting Cheddar for beer). Unfortunately the token German in our room (who nearly died laughing when I told him about Imke's love of the word 'Schiebenkliester') has moved on. But new people come in everyday.
And I've even managed to keep up with my running training out here- still a huge luxury after so long in third world countries where exercise really wasn't a possibility. I've even managed to factor some beach running in- something I'm really going to miss when I get back to Blighty I fear...

Go West! Where the air is, well very warm actually!

So, excellent choice to relocate to Perth. Not only do I infinately prefer it to Melbourne but the weather is the most gorgeous consistant sunshine I've ever seen in my life, and the ratio of yobby backpackers to nice people has moved in the right direction too. Due to getting a job in the suburb I'm currently living in a hostel in Fremantle, which again turned out to be something of a wicked choice as its just about the most beautiful part of Perth city. The hostel isn't the best I've stayed in, con lots of cockroaches, but a long way off the worst and they do have a (teeny tiny) swimming pool.
In my quest to earn some much needed dinero (where the AUS $ is so strong its more expensive over here than England) I've this week started a job doing appointment setting for the Federal Governments Eco Programme; basically I ring people up and ask them if they'd like a free energy home assessment. Not the most thrilling job in the world but I like it at the moment- theres an ongoing competition in the office to see who can set the most appointments and for some reason it appeals to my docile and non-competitive nature. Trying to think outside the box I also put up an advert saying I was available to do some babysitting in and around Freo- but after recieving an email off a young man asking if I would like to participate in a 'risque' photography project he was doing I've decided against persuing that employment route any further!

Backpacking Oz is definately a very different experience; I really miss being involved in a charity project on a daily basis, I miss being so immersed in another culture too- it seems a bit cuturally flat out here in comparison. The friendly backpacker spirit is also a bit lacking too- everyone in this hostel has a job so everyone goes out at different times each day, then come back lacking energy to meet new people so just zone out with thier friends or in front of the TV. I am starting to get to know the residents here, but its not the same 'instant friends' effect I used to weekly experience in the pressure cooker of South Am. Naturally there are the bonuses of the improved weather, a huge increase in safety and you can buy the stuff you want at the shop (ie. Marmite). I'm looking forward to the weekend to see if its all a bit different when everyones got some time off. Oh and Australia day next week should be a good way to make friends! That said I did have an enjoyable morning yesterday hanging out with a guy called Tom who had literally just flown in from England: we had a good laugh doing fake aqua fit in the pool- mainly made hilarious by the horrified looks on the nearby Frenchies faces that we were jumping around in the water like maniacs. Only made worse when Tom added 'frogs legs' as an exercise while I was busy drowning with laughter...

The Great Ocean (Road)!

And so a final post from Melbourne before my soooper early flight out to Perth tomorrow. My final days have been spent doing 'Victorian' (what people from the state of Victoria refer to themselves as. Sadly the culture appears to be largely sin literature so possibilities of joking about my Masters are limited. Shame) adventuring. The weather turned and I finally made it to the beach. Unfortunately with a Canadian guy named Carl who seems to have a borderline obession with eating clearly inedible animals and enlightened me for a full hour on the merits of Muskrat. I'm still fairly sure I would decline. The beach however was lovely, the water a shade chilly, apparently theres some kind of South Pole not that far away.

In the last few days I've also finally made it to Victoria Market which was indeed very markety, although not a patch on the crazy life blood pounding through a South American equivalent. It was however the Mecca of the fake UGG, which was entertaining; "get your real fake 'uggs' here!".

However, the highlight of my final few days has to be travelling the Great Ocean Road. The road, as you might have guessed, skirts the Ocean and is dedicated to the Ozzy soldiers who died in WW1 (glossing over the fact that almost as many returning soldiers died helping build it than did in the fighting...)... it is in fact the biggest war memorial in the world. The road runs from Melbourne to Adelaide and stops at many beaches, places of note and townships along the way. Plus also takes in the world famous Twelve Apostles, which are a group of (now 7) rockstacks off the Southern Coast of Oz. The trip was without a doubt epic; gorgeous blue skies, amazing scenery, gallons of suncream and a sighting of my very first Koala! The beauty of coastal Oz couldn't even be dampened my the tour guide who was (as nicely as possible) not a natural storyteller. But I was away with tales of shipwrecks, and in the Twelve Apostles park even managed to get chatting to a park ranger who was encouraging me to try the plantlife (assuring me of its edibility)... I can highly recommend New Zealand spinach!

We visited Bell's Beach (see video below), the lighthouse made famous by Round the Twist (have you ever, ever felt like this...), Torquay, Anglesea, Lorne, The Twelve Apostles, Lock Ard Gorge and London Bridge (which is a rock formation that looks like London Bridge... ish). All amazing, and glorious sun the whole way!

Melbourne in the rain!

I blame Neighbours. They led me to believe that I would be under a constant unfailing Ozzy sun while I was here, and we are now on the 4th consecutive day of rain. Although considering the state of Brisbane at the moment I dont think anyone feels they can really complain.

My days in Melbourne since I last blogged have been spent in a crazy variety of ways. Primarily I was occupied with finding a job, which was boring and confidence- destroying a lot of the time, but had the added bonus of me seeing a lot of the city as I walked through it handing out CVs to all and sundry! Melbourne is actually very beautiful, with lots of period buildings interspersed with the more modern developments. Pictured above is one of the University buildings; I spent about an hour exploring the campus. A very nice university to attend for beer and barbie studies!

Also this week I finally managed to go and see the Melbourne penguins, no, not an ice hockey team, but actual teeny weeny pingwings! The smallest in the world apparently. After dark you can walk down Melbournes 1 million metre long pier (so windy!) and see the little birds emerging from the water and waddling back to their nests. Very cute! I went down with two girls I met in the hostel, a scottish girl called Laura who gave me some really good advice about travelling the West Coast (my current travel plan!), and a German girl called Lisa who I see at breakfast every day when she tells me which of her muscles in aching today (I think she may have me confused with someone else who is perhaps a physiotherapist, otherwise this is just another wonderful German tradition I have yet to learn about).

The main bonus emerging from the current tempestuous weather is the beautiful sunsets! See right for one of my favourite photos of the trip to date! (Also note how long the blimming pier is, 1 billion miles, I'm telling you).

Also this week I've had to move rooms, as the original hostel room I was in was too expensive for me to stay in, so I took the plunge and moved into a 10 bed girls dorm. Or the room of stinking death as it is alternatively known. The problem with dorms in Oz is that people stay in them while they are working, so some of the girls in my room have been living there for ten months. Now the Loki La Paz staff room was no treat ('stinking rat hole' being the term of choice) but this is dirty like lots of young(er) girls living together and drinking too much make flith. Everywhere has a thin patina of foundation, theres spilt nail vanish and (unexplicable) maple syrup all over the carpet and yesterday I threw out 10 empty shampoo bottles in the shower after knocking them all over in a shower-based domino effect. Plus there are empty beer cans everywhere, everyone stinks of smoke and its 29 degrees OUTSIDE with 85% humidity, so you can only imagine the smell and temperature in there. But never-the-less its a travelling experience. And due to 2 days this week cleaning toilets I wont be paying for rent, so no dramas mate as they say over here. Though it does make me wish I was back in with the three scrupulously clean German 18 year olds I was sharing with before (plus Hans, Laura and Michael were super lovely, and still come and find me when the have cookies to share- I think they're incredibly brave to be so far from home at 18, speaking another language everyday. I couldn't have done it so young!).

The week to come is full of exciting things though... this week I'm travelling the Great Ocean road, and then on Monday I have a flight to Perth, hopefully to start a job and take the first steps on my great West- Coast adventure!

Melbourne Numero Uno

And so three days into the Melbourne adventure and I find myself in the midst of a planning flurry... who knew 3 months was almost definately not enough time to see Australia?! Well I do now. My desire to see New Zealand is adding even more complications into the mix! On the plus side I am well beck into the swing of not being stressed out so nah worries mate... what will be will be!

Melbourne so far has been both completely suprising and yet totally as I predicted at the same time. In comparison to the difficulties I faced daily in South America I would say this barely qualifies as backpacking at all- everybody has mobile phones, most have laptops, the showers are hot, the public transport fantastic, in fact I would say this is more akin to living in a massive student house. I even have a cupboard for all my food (impressive while backpacking, not impressive in life)! The downside is the difficulty of finding a job (although I have only been looking for one day before the weekend so I'm sure something will turn up this week), the expense (England prices plus), and the attitude of the backpackers here. Lots of the backpackers here are much younger, most are in groups, and lots have only been backpacking in the first world. This means they aren't as friendly, whinge about everything (I heard a girl complain about the fire alarm going off yesterday- now I'm not being funny but I would put money on less than 50% of the hostels I stayed in in South America even having fire alarms, and I bet 50% of those weren't connected to anything. I am pro saftey features, even if it was 'only a small fire', ie toaster, that set it off) and have generally got lots of money. I actually met a backpacker the other day who was boasting that he couldn't get by on less than 3000 POUNDS a month. What on earth he was spending it on I do not know, but if we were in Bolivia he would have been robbed blind 30 seconds later. Basically the whole process is an adjustment, a different type of challenge.

All that said I have managed to make some friends out here- from the crazy hostel staff to the girls that drink and dance on the roof all day, 'we're going to look for a job tomorrow', to the three margninally post- pubescent Germans I'm currently sharing a room with who are super sweet and play rock, paper, scissors to find out who has to turn off the light (as their revered elder I am naturally superior and not included- basically I'm always in bed first).

Most of my time has been taken up with job hunting and planning so far, although I did make time to see the sunset and a trip into Melbourne city centre (I'm staying in a trendy (read expensive) suburb called St Kilda). Melbourne city centre is really amazing with everything from period churches to the production of a schizophrenic architect that is federation square. I also took a trip up the sky tower to have a peek at Melbourne from above (phot left)!

Today I took a tour to Ramsey Street to see the set of Neighbours and hang out with Dr Karl Kennedy... I met a Korean girl on the tour and she and I were wetting ourselves laughing because it was so obviously aimed at hardcore fans. Absolutely brilliant three hours which I can recommend to fans and non fans alike; its so cheesey its impossible not to have a good time and even if you haven't watched if for years (like me) there's still pleanty to be recognised and much fun to be had with the Ramsey Street sign! Plus also you get to walk where Jason Donovan and Jessie Spencer once stood- swoon!

So this week the plan hopefully will include some job offers, a few trips to the beach, some social drinking, my first night out in Melbourne now I am sin jetlag and mas planning! Any further suggestions on where to go do let me know!!

Yay!!

London- Hong Kong- Adelaide- Melbourne

And so here I am in Melbourne, 34 degrees and sunny with a refreshing breeze... life is hard! It seems forever since I booked it all...
The flight was pretty epic- leaving London at 9pm on the 4th, and arriving at 2pm (Ozzy time) on the 6th! The flight from London to Hong Kong was made even longer by my next door neighbour being a snoring power- farter. I have since started a campaign to make such infomation available when booking your seats on a long haul flight...
I therefore was forced to ulitise my 6 hour holdover at Hong Kong airport having a nap, which was fine because not only is it exorbitently expensive there, and I'm not really in the market for a Chanel handbag directly before my backpacking trip (or ever for that matter).
The onward flight was better, but also sin sleep seeing as I was trying to watch every film on the plane (and to beat the jetlag dontcha know). Would highly reccomend 'The Social Network' for those of you interested in the whole Facebook phenomenon.
The best part of my trip however would have to be the transfer from the airport; I was picked up by an elderly gentleman who I thought was doing a Borat impression, until the telling of his lifestory lead me to realise he was originally Russian but now with a slight Ozzy twinge (when forced to guess his country of origin I resisted the urge to say Kazikstan- great personal growth there I think). My driver spent the 30 minute journey telling me about the red light district of the city, and where not to wear a short skirt unless I "want to earn some spending money". Meant with a good heart I think.
After a 13 hour power sleep last night I was up for a run this morning- that local park is EPIC, gorgeous and surrounded by drinking fountains and workout equiptment. Looking forward to making it a daily haunt! And since then I have been occupied with filling out paperwork, sorting out CVs, setting up my Ozzy bank account (donations welcome). Tonight I'm all set for my first Ozzy BBQ and some sampling of the local amber nectar! BRING ON OZ!!

Seattle- Victoria- Christmas Time!

I had few hours in Seattle (a MILLION hours that is), but luckily they have hilarious Christmas cards in Seattle so that took up half a million years, and looking at the 'Sleepless in Seattle' PJs took up the other. And then I was off on a little 'pond hopper' for a brief 30 minutes flight to Victoria with some very tongue-in-cheek air hostesses, 'due to turbulence the air hostesses will remain seatedthrought this flight so if you have need of any assistance you best make friends with the person next to you fast'.
I spent the next week in Victoria enjoying snowboarding, shopping, sightseeing and sport (well, some light running, but I had to go for the extra 's' there). Canada was very pretty, but really reminded me of England. Very much enjoyed a trip to see the Candian Naval Base at Esquimalt, and my day of much-needed snowboard instruction.
And then I was home for Christmas which was very enjoyable, and a few weeks off in a nice bed with hot showers and proper PJs did a world of good!
And then TODAY I'm off to Australia for the adventure to start again...!!

My ami

After being hustled at the airport in Bogota, my day deteriorated further when the customs official was reluctant to let me through because its suspicious to enter the country by land and leave by air. Apparently. It got MUCH better however when I got to Miami and found that NOT ONLY did the airport transfers people have no record of my payment, but also the hostel I was staying at was suffering from a similar affliction. Luckily it turned out that I was also something of a whizz at arguing with people in English and it was all resolved in no time.
Miami was literally insane. I think possibly the strangest place to fly into after 5 months in the third world. A burger and fries going for a mere $20 after the 50p they would have cost in La Paz just seemed crazy. The beach front was littered with cars that cost more than the average house and the shops local to Miami Beach range from Tommy Hilfiger to Versace. I felt like I was back in the slums.
Luckily I had some lovely roomates; 5 boys from all over the world who unfortunately were off to the keys the next day, but who I planned to spend the next night with. My first night in Miami I chatted to the boys, sampled the Miami beach fare and checked out some Miami stylee Christmas lights. Back at the hostel it seemed a bit like America attracted a very different kind of backpacker as noone was sharing a communal beer, and instead were all plugged into their personal laptops. I counted myself lucky with my nice roomates who left me a lovely note the next day before they left for Key West (see left)...
During the next day I decided to go for a run and take in the scenery which was enjoyable, and then decided to head for the beach where I was incredibly entertained to find that the beach was being ploughed by tractor just to make the samd look nice again. After months of living among people who struggle to feed their families the whole concept of raking the beach each morning seemed insane!
post lying in the yummy sunshine I went for a big walk to take in the Miami beach life, and got harassed repeatedly by many young strange men on segways... the matrix strikes again...
That evening the boys were back to relieve me of my responsibilities, and to explain why our room was littered by car parts. Apparently Tazi (as in boy from Tasmania) owned a car repairey place and had been collecting fenders, bumpers and the such all over the USA. Highly entertaining for his roomates as he as forced to store them in his bed and then sleep all curled round them akin to a hibernating bear. We spent the evening drinking the four bottles of wine Frenchy (as in boy from France) had bought us, and playing with the $80 worth of bubble wrap Tazi had purchased to insulate the car parts on the plane ride home the following day. Needless to say hilarity ensued involving Germy (boy from Germany... genius nicknames I'm sure you'll agree) being wrapped in said bubble wrap.
Tazi had to catch a plane early the next day so we agreed to share a taxi to the airport at 4am. A very large taxi. And despite the fact my flight wasn't till eight. But it seemed as good idea after all the wine. The boys decided the best way for Tazi to actually get his plane was to go out drinking until the 4am departure, so off they went leaving me to get about 2 hours kip. Now I dont know if you've ever tried to put a drunk Tasmanian, a fender, and two bumpers in a taxi at 4am, while the miserable git of a driver WATCHES, but let me assure you its no picnic. However we did get to the airport, and the Tasmanian was sooo drunk he didn't realise he paid the whole fare, so that was fine. And, minus the 3 hour wait, I was off to Seattle!