Saturday 29th November 2008 - New Zealand!!

I eventually got to sleep around 1am Friday morning, so had only had about 4 hours sleep when the alarm went off at 5. After making sure everybody was awake (hehehe) I switched the alarm of, bounced my way off the top bunk, and went for a shower. When I got back I had to switch the light on (it was still dark), and made quite a drama of packing my bags, especially as I'd left a lot of stuff on the bed so had to jump back up, sort stuff out and bounce back down. I then left, but 'forgot' to turn the light off. Oops!! These things can't be helped!!

I walked up to central station and nearly lost my balance getting my ticket out of the machine!! I had to bend down to pick the ticket up, and had almost 18kg of stuff on my back. I seriously wobbled getting back up. Oh, and the kind woman standing next to me just watched me. As soon as I got steady again, I started walking towards the train. Only disaster strook - I dropped the flippin ticket!! So the second drama was picking that up (I'm wondering if this is karma for being noisy???). I wobbled again, not as bad as the first time and went on my way. Thankfully, being not even 6am the station was pretty quiet so I got a seat pretty close to the door on the train, and didn't have to fight with any stairs (the trains here are double decker, but you have to go downstairs to one floor, upstairs to the other, and there are just a handful of seats where you don't have to tackle any stairs.

I got to the airport and checked in (eventually - the computer wasn't working. I do think I should have been upgraded for my patience!!). After checking in I went through to departures, and did the weekly parent phone calls (it is surprising how quickly the weekend turns up!). After that I grabbed a croissant for breakfast, and went to sit and wait to board. As I was sitting, reading my magazine, some woman came up to me and asked if I'd mind answering some questions as part of a survey of people who travel around Australia who aren't Australian. I thought I might as well, not much else to do. I'd been travelling for over 70 days at this point, and had visited over 20 places (or something like that). It took her ages to go through everywhere I'd been and for how long (thankfully I had it all written down in a little book I carry around with me). She asked someone else after me and only took about 5 mins, if that. I'm sure I was over half an hour!! I did get 2 free boomerang fridge magnets for my troubles though (maybe I shouldn't have said that - I could have given them to people as gifts!!!!).

I boarded the plane and went to sit in my window seat (on the wong though - I always seem to get seated on the wing so the view was lovely!!). People were boarding, and the plane was getting pretty full, but the 2 seats next to me were staying empty. By the time we were leaving, they were still empty so I had 3 seats all to myself (I did get some looks from people though!!). It was nice to have a window seat and yet not have to ask anybody to shift when I need to go to the loo!! On the plane I watched an episode of Gavin and Stacey, and then the film Mamma Mia. The flight only took around 2 3/4 hours, so we soon arrived in Auckland.

Leaving the plane then you have to go through the whole immigration thing, and tell people why you're visiting, for how long, and where you're staying and stuff like that. I found that it is a lot easier to leave a country than it is to get in. You have to stop several times to get checked, and to see whether you should be allowed entry. Thankfully I was let in!! As I got through to arrivals, I phoned John (Mam's cousin - who I'm staying with), to see where he was. He was literally walking through the door as I arrived, which was good as he didn't have to pay any car park fees. On the way back to the flat, we stopped by at their church where his daughter, Rebecca and her husband were working so I could meet them. Then we went back to the flat, and I was shown my room. That sounds so nice. A room where there's only me in it!! A bed that hasn't got another one stuck on top of it. Heaven!!!

As we arrived at the flat, John's foster daughter Debbie arrived with her son Cameron (who's 18 months old and gorgeous!). We watched a bit of the tv (another luxury!) - Home and Away of course!! - and then had food. A nice home cooked meat and cheese pie, with mashed potatoes and mushy peas. After food we went for a drive around Auckland so I could see the city. I am actually surprised at how small it is, and then had strawberries and ice cream for pudding. The ice cream was hokey pokey ice cream which I don't think I've had before. It was vanilla with honeycomb pieces in it. Yum!!

This morning (Saturday) we drove into the city, and then caught a ferry over to Waiheke island to go on a wine tasting tour. The island is absolutely stunning. We visited 3 vineyards on the tour. The Mudbrick one to start, then Kennedy Point, and finally Obsidian. I've got to admit, the wines were all yummy!!! For lunch then, we went to a cafe on the island called Lazy Lounge, and had pizza and chips. After lunch we headed down to the beach for a while, before catching the ferry back to Auckland. When we arrived back at the house, Michelle (John's eldest daughter) was there with 2 of her children. As I was sorting out what to do with the rest of the week, and where to go, Rebecca arrived with her husband, Steve.

We then had an indian takeaway for food, and then sat down - pretty shattered from the day in the sun!!

Thurs 27th Nov - Sydney, Sydney, Sydney

I wondered around the shopping centre on Tuesday until it was time to go to the bus stop. Didn't really buy anything - one problem with being a backpacker is that money is generally pretty tight unfortunately!!! Caught the bus back and then checked into the hostel (790 on George). I kinda had the same room as first time round (it's the same hostel I stayed in before heading off to Canberra) except that it was a couple of floors up. Unfortunately though the lift was broken, so several flights of stair later (with my backpack on my back remember!!!) I arrive ever so slightly out of breath. But never mind, I could have been on the top floor!!! There is one person in the room when I get there so say hi, and that's that. I head off to the supermarket to get something for food, then head to bed and read. At that point there was nobody in the room. Cool!!! That does not happen often. Unfortunately though people come back between about 1am and 4am. Each time the light goes on, and they talk to each other, talk on the phone, or just generally make as much noise as possible. Never mind, I eventually got to sleep and then annoyed everyone by switching my reading light on at 10:15am (!!!!!). Seriously.

I spent Wednesday out and about. I went to Hyde Park to have my lunch and sit for a while. And then wondered around the city. I had a little snooze during the afternoon (I needed it from the night before!!) and then went to watch James Bond Quantum of Solace in the cinema. When I got back to the hostel last night there was no one there again, which I knew would mean me being woken up again. Oh well, only 2 more nights of it. I haven't actually worked out where these girls are from yet, because they just won't talk to me. I think they mite be Austrian or German or something. No idea. I was right, but at least it was a little earlier. They finally shut up around 2am.

Today, I caught the train and went to the harbour, and saw the opera house and harbour bridge. I saw them when I first got to Australia, but thought I'd visit again. After that I had the joys of washing to do. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow for a couple of reasons. For one I'm flying to New Zealand. Secondly I have to get up at 5am. I will try my hardest to be quiet, but I can't promise anything!! Hehehehe. Payback!!

Monday 24th November - Sydney and Canberra

I got to the hostel Friday night, and during the night the 3 girls that were sharing a room with me came in. It turns out that they were from Caernarfon. It was nice to be able to speak Welsh for a change. Though I have been told that my accent has got stronger again since spending time talking with them!!

I spent Saturday walking around Darling Harbour in Sydney, and also I visited the Chinese Garden of Friendship. Other than that I didn't actually do much, but that took up a lot of the day.

I had planned to go and see a band playing in Coogee with Sinead on Sunday. We caught the bus around lunch time to go out there, and it turned out that the band had cancelled because of the bad weather - yes the weather still isn't great out here. It was so much nicer during my first couple of weeks in Oz. I checked the temp the other day, and it showed the min temp in Sydney was exactly the same as that at home. Now that's not fair!!!!!

Even though the band weren't playing, we decided to have a drink in the bar anyway. It was strange being back in Coogee because that's where we all stayed during our first week in Sydney. After hacing a drink we decided to move on to get food, so we went to the restaurant that was right beside our old hostel. It's the one that had the $5 meals. They also serve pints which is rare in Oz!!!

After finishing food we decided to catch the bus back into the centre. There is a bar across the road from the hostel I was staying in, so we both decided to head there for a drink. The tv was showing the Wales v New Zealand rugby game from the previous day, and even though I knew that Wales had lost, I was quite happy watching the game. A guy from New Zealand then came over and joined us, and said he was celebrating because NZ had beaten Aus in the final of the rugby union the night before. After a couple of drink there I headed back to the hostel coz I needed to pack before getting up early this morning to catch the Greyhound bus to take me to Canberra. I had decided that I may as well visit the capital coz I was over here. It's not something that many people do because there isn't that much to do there, but I thought why not.

I got into Canberra by lunchtime, but couldn't check into the YHA where I'm staying until 1pm. I put my bags into a looker and decided to head off to explore because I'm only here for 24 hours. I decided to visit the War Memorial because a lot of people talk about it, and say it's one of the few things worth visiting in Canberra. They were right, it was really interesting. I spent a few hours there. It talked about Australia's involvment in the 1st and 2nd World Wars. It also explained what ANZAC day was, which I'd noticed was a big deal out here because a lot of places only close on Christmas Day and ANZAC day. ANZAC day is commemorated on 25th April each year to honour members of the Austrlian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War 1.

On the way back to the hostel, I stopped off at the shopping centre, which happens to be a lot bigger than it looks from the outside. It seems to go on for ever. I've decided to pay another visit tomorrow, because I have to check out of the hostel by 10am, but my bus doesn't leave til 12:30. Oh dear ;-)

Fri 21st November. Byron to Surf Camp to Coffs Harbour and then back to Sydney

I ended up going to the cinema in Byron Bay to see 'Burn After Reading' with Brad Pitt and George Clooney. What a strange film!!! Worth watching, but still can't decide if I actually enjoyed it. Very weird!!

We were up early on Wednesday to catch the Oz Experience bus. This was taking us to Surf Camp which was a compulsory stop. At surf camp I had another surfing lesson which was great fun, but not as good as the Sydney one. The waves seemed huge there (though they probably weren't that big!!!) and it took so much energy to get out far enough to be able to surf back in it was mad!!! I did manage to stand up, though, and even attempted it without help from an instructor. After food, we then watched somone's Peter Kay DVD 'Live at Bolton Albert Hall' in the TV room, and had quite an early night. The next morning we were woken up at 6am for breakfast, and then caught the bus at 7 ready to take us to Coffs Harbour.

At Coffs Harbour we went to the local dolphin and seal sanctuary. I had my photo taken being kissed by a seal and a dolphin. That was a first!!! We then watched a dolphin and seal 'magic show', which was really good. It was pretty funny. I also got to feed a seal. After the show we went to feed some penguins. The breed that was there is the world's smallest breed of penguins. Once we'd finished there we went for a wonder into Coffs Harbour centre. There wasn't much there. I bought a new hand luggage bag coz mine broke, and had some lunch. In the evening we headed back into the centre to have food.

This morning we were collected by the Oz Experience bus at about 7:30 am (another early start - I thought this was supposed to be a holiday!!!). This would be my last time on the bus as it was taking me through to Sydney. It took about 8/9 hours all together, so arrived in Sydney late afternoon. I'm staying at 790 on George hostel here, and so far it looks ok. I'm booked in here for 3 nights, but not quite sure what I'll do after that and before I fly to New Zealand on Friday. Decisions, decisions.........

Tuesday 17th November - Surfers to Byron Bay. Here comes fun!!!

We had to check out of our hostel by 10 on Sunday morning, but weren't catching the Oz Experience bus from Surfers Paradise until 3 o'clock. So, after checking out and putting our bags into lockers we headed down to the beach. Whilst we were there there were children doing surf rescue life saving, which is something that is done a lot across Australia. There were loads of children there aswell as their parents, and also loads of helpers. It was quite amazing to watch, and the children seemed to get loads of enjoyment out of it.

After spending a couple of hours on the beach we headed back up to the hostel for some lunch. After making sure lunch took as long as possible, we collected our bags and then headed for the bus. Despite it being really hot and sunny during the morning, by now it had started to rain, and there was thunder and lightning. Apparently during the next couple of days Queensland saw their worst storm in 25 years!! It was only an hour and half on the bus to Byron Bay, but as we had now left Queensland and had entered New South Wales, the clocks had changed. They had moved forward an hour.

We checked into room number 13 (not a good start), and we were in an 8 bed dorm. Most people went out that night from our room, excpet for me, Sinead and another girl. Unfortunately, we discovered that we had the nosiest room mates ever at 1am. And it took them ages to settle down. Then the following morning, 2 girls checked out at about 6:30am, and once again they had no idea about how to keep the noise down. One of the guys in our room had set an alarm on his phone, and it went off around 8 times during the morning before he decided to switch it off. And then 2 other people checked in, made as much noise as possible before declaring that they had been travelling over night so were really tired and going to bed.

After getting ready, me and Sinead decided to walk to a lighthouse, which is next to the most Eastern point of mainland Australia. Despite it almost being summer in Australia, it was a case of trousers, trainers, waterproof, the lot!!! As we were walking towards the lighthouse (which was about 2.2km each way, up and down hills), we looked out to the sea and I thought I saw something there. It was far away though so I couldn't be sure. As we walked a bit further we looked again and there were loads of dolphins in the sea playing. There must have been about 8 alltogether.

We got the most Eastern point and to the lighthouse (I forgot my camera!! Took some photos on my mobile, but not got many unfortunately), and then on the way back we noticed that the dolphins had moved even closer. Looking again, we saw that away from the dolphins was also a whale. It was definately worth the walk just to see them. On the walk back some Brits came over to talk to us, and commented about the weather being just like home!! It was raining, windy, cold. After getting back and having a pie for lunch (def one of the plus sides about being in Australia!!!), we headed to the pub for a drink because there was nothing else to do. The hostel had put a board up suggesting things to do while it's raining, and they were literally:

• read,
• go on the internet,
• go drinking,
• go in the sea (you'll be wet anyway),
• go to Nimbin (local drugs area. Very well known - decided against it),
• Play board games.

That was about it. So, we spent the rest of the afternoon reading books, magazines, talking and eating. Thankfully then last night, the people who were noisy coming in the previous night weren't too bad. And there was no one checking out in the morning so managed to get quite a bit more sleep. The weather isn't much better today, still raining. The plan for the day is to head to the cinema this afternoon, and then get dominos pizza for food. It's cheap arse Tuesday, where everywhere has offers so is cheaper than usual. A large pizza is less than $5 which is not much more than 2 pounds. Cinema is $7.50, which is about 3 pounds 50.

Saturday 15th November - Brisbane to Surfers Paradise

On Wednesday I spent the day just wondering around the Southbank in Brisbane, and had a nice lunch and a couple of glasses of vino. Then, a few of us went on the Brisbane Eye (yes, just like the London one), and saw the sights of Brisbane. Wednesday night was spent out drinking (I'm really starting to think I'm an alcoholic!!), but thankfully didn't drink too much so could actually move the next day. I decided I wanted to go shopping the next day, and being in a city it was pretty simple!! I only actually bought a couple of things, and then managed to get a 10% discount, because the guy in the shop was Welsh, from Swansea. The rest of the day was just spent chilling in the Botanic Gardens again. Lush!!

On Friday I had to check out of my hostel (oh what a shame, I really liked the ice cold showers, the lights that only worked half the time, the aircon that was on way too high so was like the North Pole, and the leaking ceiling!) and catch the Oz Experience bus to Surfers Paradise. Once there me and Sinead decided to have a look at what there was to do, and we saw an advert for Abba Mania, a tribute band for Abba (obviously!!), and there was food included. It ended up being a really good night. Food was a roast (the 1st time Sinead had ever had a Yorkshire Pudding - after I'd explained to her it wasn't a pudding!) followed by apple crumble. The show was really good with everyone singing along and dancing. The only problem we had was that we weren't allowed into most of the bars because we were wearing flip flops (or thongs out here!).

Today, Saturday, has been a pretty lazy day. Stayed in bed late this morning, but then when I did get up we went for a game of tennis. This afternoon was then spent on the beach. The waves are amazing here (I take it that's why it's called Surfers Paradise!!!). We then found an Irish bar (there are millions of them here!) for food and a pint!! Irish bars are the only place you can get a pint in Australia pretty much. Everywhere else serves schooners, which are less than a pint, but more than a half.

Wednesday 12th November 2008 - Brisbane

Well I spent the weekend doing very little. I just walked around the city (a lot!), spent a couple of hours in the Botanic Gardens reading and watching lizards's chasing each other (not a sight you see often at home!). Saturday night I went to the cinema and watched 'How to make friends and alienate people' which was good. Then Sunday was a very similar day (even went back to the cinema and saw 'A night in Rodanthe'. We've been having problems with our hostel all weekend. The air con doesn't work, and it's really hot in the room, and the lights decide to switch off around 8pm, and turn back on around 11pm. Reception staff are useless and don't do anything about it. We've also got a shared bathroom between our room and one other, but the shower doesn't have a drop of hot water coming out of it!! It actually goes pretty well with the sauna of a room!!

Me and Sinead got up early on Monday to catch a train to go to Steve Irwin's zoo. Whilst there I fed an elephant and it slobbered all over my hand!! Must admit that it was a first. I also fed kangaroos, and saw loads of other animals including crocs, a camel, tigers, goats, koala's, a Tasmanian Devil. etc. It was a busy day, and after getting back we decided to go to the pub for food. Steak night for $8.90. Then stopped at another pub at the way home where a schooner of xxxx was $3.00 during happy hour.

Tuesday morning was really lazy. Didn't move far from bed at all!! Nice to have a morning like that sometimes. Then we had lunch and I went on the internet to sort out flights to New Zealand. I've decided to go over there for 10 days at the end of the month. Gonna be staying with family which will be nice. It'll be a novelty to not share a bedroom with 7 other people!! Afterwards we went to the pub (I'm spotting a pattern here!!), and over to a flat that 5 people have just rented out for 6 weeks. We got takeaway pizza and had a couple of glasses of wine before heading back to the hostel. The flat was lush though.

Saturday 8th November - week 1 in Brisbane

Well, on Tuesday I placed a bet on a horse for the Melbourne Cup, but didn't win anything :-( Did manage to spend a few hours in the pub though, which isn't such a bad thing. After that we went back to the hostel to change ready for our night out. It was a good night, but I really suffered the next day!! Didn't move from the hostel the next day and just felt sorry for myself. The only food I had on me were cereal bars, so just nibbled on them all day!!!

We checked out of our hostel on Thursday, and didn't have anywhere else to stay so spent a while phoning hostels to try and find one with vacancies (not an easy or fun task!!). We eventually got into a 4 bed at Cloud 9, so made our way over there. This one is a bit closer to the centre, which is good. After doing that we caught a taxi (tried to get a bus, but they are so confusing - we were sent to 3 different bus stops across the city and they were all the wrong ones) over to the planetarium. This was a nice afternoon, and after getting back into the city (managed the bus this time!!) did a bit of shopping and then headed back to the hostel.

Yesterday (Friday) we decided to go to the Warner Bros Movie World theme park. This park was pretty small compared to others, and also a lot of rides were shut for work because it was out of season. Despite this though it was a good day, saw Shrek in 4d, and managed a few rides!! We were all pretty tired last night then so just had a chill out night.

Today I am just planning to put my i-pod on and wonder around the city and see what I see pretty much.

4/11/08 - Brisbane (or Brisvegas!)

Caught the bus on Saturday at 4:30 to take me to Rainbow Beach which is a compulsory stop on the OzExperience bus. We arrived in the evening, had some food and then listened to a man play the didgeridoo. He then played a didgeritwo with another man (it's kinda 2 didgeridoo's that join together and make one at the end). We had to be up pretty early on Sunday to catch the bus at 8am to take us to Brisbane. There was a triathlon on in one of the town's we stop at so were a bit delayed trying to get through the diversions. We got to Brisbane soon after 1, and waited for the bus to take us to our hostel. First impressions of the hostel weren't great. The door of the rooms never seem to be locked, the bathroom is quite a walk away from the room, it's not all that clean, and 6 people in the room with us (out of 8) work, so have to get up early in the morning. That wouldn't be so bad if they actually switched their alarm off and got up. But some actually prefer to let their alarm go on and on. And then press the snooze button. Lots of times. When 6 people do that the chance of sleep is slim!!

After arriving and having a quick shower 4 of us went over to Sinead's cousins house for a barbie. We had a really nice afternoon, her cousin was really nice, and then headed to the pub (obviously an Irish bar - there's more of them than any other in Australia!!!). On our first full day here, we walked round lots of hostels trying to find a decent but cheap one to book into after our 4 nights in this one is up. We found one called Cloud 9, but couldn't book a bed until the next day. So we'll have to phone up later to see if we can get in. After that we just kinda walked around Brisbane trying to get our bearings. Brisbane seems like a really nice city, which I'm pleased about because I was really looking forward to coming here.

At 4pm 3 of us had booked onto the xxxx brewery tour, so caught the train out there. The tour was really good, and we could have 4 glasses of beer at the end, which was a nice way to end!!! Once that had finished we decided to go for a curry (it's been a while and we were missing them!!!), so found a curry house in the Westend. It was a nice night.

The Melbourne cup is on today, so going to place a bet on a horse later. One of the horses is called Newport, so gonna have to go for that. It's odds are about 50:1 though, so don't think it's got that much chance, but we'll see. It's also Jennie's birthday today, so going out tonight to celebrate.