Erm... well I do, but not just yet. I can probably survive a bit longer without finding work. And with the complete lack of work available in Sydney (at least if you don't have any previous bar or restaurant experience) I have changed my plans. I will no longer be in Sydney for New Year. I will be in Melbourne. And I'm getting there in a camper van with a German guy I barely know taking about a month to explore the Snowy Mountains and the coast! We plan to arrive in Melbourne a few days before Christmas, but this is pretty much as far as the planning has gone... I thought it was about time I did something a bit more adventurous! The freedom of the open road!
So what have I done in Sydney then? I went to Manly (it was freezing) and watched people learning to surf (I wasn't daft enough to get into that sea - brrr!). I have thoroughly explored the botanic gardens and managed not to get shat on by a fruit bat. I have seen the opera house, wandered along the bridge, been confused by the anti-tardis effect of the modern art gallery (really it DOES look a lot bigger from the outside!) and explored the observatory. I have not visited the Blue mountains or Bondi (it has been unseasonably wet here). I do fly out of Sydney though, so I can always come back for a few days...
Anyway, I don't know how often I'm going to find internet, or even much more civilisation than a long-drop and a BBQ (or more likely just the BBQ), over the next few weeks, but I'll be sure to tell you all about it when I finally make it to Melbourne...
Monday 24 November 2008
Tuesday 18 November 2008
Where are the flatshares?
So far I have had very little luck with finding accommodation in Sydney. OK, I tell a lie. There is lots of accommodation if you want to be someones live-in whore, or if you want to share a box-sized room with 2 other Korean girls in Chinatown. However, if you just fancy having your own room with a group of like-minded people (and not have to worry that you put your shoes in the wrong place for 2 months), and you don't fancy being a live-in whore ("don't reply to this advert if you don't know what I'm after if you know what I mean..."), then there are very few choices unless you're willing to sign up to a 3-6 month contract. One option is becoming an au pair (but you do have to deal with their kids then). Another is a long-stay hostel. However, long-stay hostels all kick you out over Christmas and New Year (not a time I fancy being homeless) and not having a job yet I'm not sure that I'm enamoured enough with Sydney to stay here for that long if I can't stay or New Year... I have heard about a waitressing job at the Opera House which I'm going to see about tomorrow though, and i I get that then I probably will stay in a long-stay hostel or a while and worry about the accommodation at a later date. I imagine the tips over the holiday period will probably be pretty good with the clientele there...
Saturday 15 November 2008
Chilled in Cairns and Sydney
But for different reasons. Unsurprisingly 21C feels very cold after 2 weeks of 32C...
So Cairns, what did I do in the end? The answer? Honestly not a lot! It's difficult to motivate yourself in that humidity and I think I was getting a little bit of travellers burn-out after moving so much since I left home!
I did go up to Cape Tribulation, where I saw crocs and cassowaries and many other things that can kill or maim you if you look at them a bit funny! I stayed on Myall Beach for 2 nights, wandering along the beautiful beach (bordered at one side by unbelievably blue sea and on the other by unbelievably green rainforest), wandering through mangrove forests, and rainforest to (very cold!) swimming holes, and swimming in the pool at the hostel. Because it's stinger season, which means you don't go swimming in that beautiful blue sea, even if you have been baking on the beautiful sandy beach!
The first night there me and two German girls headed to go and see the beach in the dark. We got as far as the archway over the path that leads to the beach before we hit our first obstacle. In the form of a spiders web. Except we couldn't see the web in the torchlight, only the spider hanging in the middle. After a bit of squealing the web was removed by very girly waving of a long dried leaf held at arms length. We continued down the path, which was bordered on each side by shallow water. Which then made me freak out about crocs (occasional rustling of leaves behind us didn't make me any more confident). With the potential to be eaten by something unseen, or worse encounter a spider in the dark (ok, maybe my priorities are SLIGHTLY skewed...) I chickened out and headed back to the dorm. I was followed all of 3 minutes later by the other girls. It seems one said to the other "it's very dark, isn't it?". The next night we made it to the beach in a group of 5, accompanied by a guy who walked in front to remove any spider webs (although we didn't tell him that was the reason...) we got to the beach to find that the tide was low and eerie black lumps were emerging from the sea close to the shore. These were the remains of an ancient coral reef that was close to the shore until the rainforest moved down to the lowlands and leached nutrients out of the soil into the sea, killing the coral. We had a very successful bonfire on the beach, sand inbetween our toes, listening to the waves and the crackling of seaweed being thrown onto the fire (until one guy forgot to shake the sand out first and nearly put the fire out!).
After Cape Tribulation I headed back to Cairns to a new hostel (I can't recommend Dreamtime enough guys!) for a few days before a trip to the Atherton Tablelands. A definite advantage of this trip was that it's cooler in the mountains! We swam in Josephine falls, sliding down the waterfall and plunging into the freezing water, then laughing at each other as we attempted to get enough purchase on the slippery rock to climb back out of the water and to the top of the falls again! Fortunately we didn't find out about the 6 ft eel or the catfish that inhabit that pool until after we got out! On that day we also saw the Devils Pool (abbreviated to "Evil Poo" on the sign of course) where many young men with more testosterone than sense have vanished. If you jump into the edge of the pool it spits you out down the river. If you jump into the middle it sucks you down. It's a whirlpool and they haven't found the bottom. The even let a 1.6km weighted line down it and never found the end. One theory is that it leads to a known freshwater spring out in the Pacific. Which would be why only some of the bodies have ever been recovered. Needless to say that no-one fancied a dip at that moment.
Also in the tablelands we saw platypus - or as much of them as you ever see, and Musky Rat Kangaroos (which are just bouncing rats really). As well as driving along a road that gives even the strongest stomachs a run for their money!
Back in Cairns and I FINALLY ventured out on the reef. But only snorkelling having had a cold recently and still having blocked ears... I must say, I'm not so much a fan of snorkelling - my mask kept filling up so I had to empty it about every 30 seconds, and the sea was quite rough, so I think I drank about half of the Pacific through my snorkel (yes I know I'm exaggerating a bit!). However, the view was AMAZING! And I had all sorts of brightly coloured fish swimming around my hands, and I saw a shark! Which I'm assured was a reef shark and harmless to humans, but was still rather bigger than I expected and did nearly make me swallow my snorkel!
The best bit of the day for me was the trip home though. We were on a small boat, around 15-20 passengers, 3 crew (all Brits!) and we switched off the engines and sailed the WHOLE way back to Cairns! We got a little wet, and our captain DID manage to put a little more of the boat under water than he meant to - probably because he was busy chatting up a bikini clad girl - but it was great fun! So yes, I LIKED sailing, and can only conclude that the reason I haven't liked it before is that England is COLD. Of course the wine and cheese we were served on the way back may have influenced my opinion rather too...
And now I'm in Sydney. And an MP3 player down, which I'm very unimpressed about. I arrived at Base backpackers to find a filthy smelly room and no common room. I immediately booked somewhere else and got my money back, so I'm now out near Kings Cross (the red light district) in what feels like a leafy London suburb. I have a bank account, a medicare card and a mobile. As yet I do not have a job or a flat, but I'm working on it - everything stops for weekend here!
So Cairns, what did I do in the end? The answer? Honestly not a lot! It's difficult to motivate yourself in that humidity and I think I was getting a little bit of travellers burn-out after moving so much since I left home!
I did go up to Cape Tribulation, where I saw crocs and cassowaries and many other things that can kill or maim you if you look at them a bit funny! I stayed on Myall Beach for 2 nights, wandering along the beautiful beach (bordered at one side by unbelievably blue sea and on the other by unbelievably green rainforest), wandering through mangrove forests, and rainforest to (very cold!) swimming holes, and swimming in the pool at the hostel. Because it's stinger season, which means you don't go swimming in that beautiful blue sea, even if you have been baking on the beautiful sandy beach!
The first night there me and two German girls headed to go and see the beach in the dark. We got as far as the archway over the path that leads to the beach before we hit our first obstacle. In the form of a spiders web. Except we couldn't see the web in the torchlight, only the spider hanging in the middle. After a bit of squealing the web was removed by very girly waving of a long dried leaf held at arms length. We continued down the path, which was bordered on each side by shallow water. Which then made me freak out about crocs (occasional rustling of leaves behind us didn't make me any more confident). With the potential to be eaten by something unseen, or worse encounter a spider in the dark (ok, maybe my priorities are SLIGHTLY skewed...) I chickened out and headed back to the dorm. I was followed all of 3 minutes later by the other girls. It seems one said to the other "it's very dark, isn't it?". The next night we made it to the beach in a group of 5, accompanied by a guy who walked in front to remove any spider webs (although we didn't tell him that was the reason...) we got to the beach to find that the tide was low and eerie black lumps were emerging from the sea close to the shore. These were the remains of an ancient coral reef that was close to the shore until the rainforest moved down to the lowlands and leached nutrients out of the soil into the sea, killing the coral. We had a very successful bonfire on the beach, sand inbetween our toes, listening to the waves and the crackling of seaweed being thrown onto the fire (until one guy forgot to shake the sand out first and nearly put the fire out!).
After Cape Tribulation I headed back to Cairns to a new hostel (I can't recommend Dreamtime enough guys!) for a few days before a trip to the Atherton Tablelands. A definite advantage of this trip was that it's cooler in the mountains! We swam in Josephine falls, sliding down the waterfall and plunging into the freezing water, then laughing at each other as we attempted to get enough purchase on the slippery rock to climb back out of the water and to the top of the falls again! Fortunately we didn't find out about the 6 ft eel or the catfish that inhabit that pool until after we got out! On that day we also saw the Devils Pool (abbreviated to "Evil Poo" on the sign of course) where many young men with more testosterone than sense have vanished. If you jump into the edge of the pool it spits you out down the river. If you jump into the middle it sucks you down. It's a whirlpool and they haven't found the bottom. The even let a 1.6km weighted line down it and never found the end. One theory is that it leads to a known freshwater spring out in the Pacific. Which would be why only some of the bodies have ever been recovered. Needless to say that no-one fancied a dip at that moment.
Also in the tablelands we saw platypus - or as much of them as you ever see, and Musky Rat Kangaroos (which are just bouncing rats really). As well as driving along a road that gives even the strongest stomachs a run for their money!
Back in Cairns and I FINALLY ventured out on the reef. But only snorkelling having had a cold recently and still having blocked ears... I must say, I'm not so much a fan of snorkelling - my mask kept filling up so I had to empty it about every 30 seconds, and the sea was quite rough, so I think I drank about half of the Pacific through my snorkel (yes I know I'm exaggerating a bit!). However, the view was AMAZING! And I had all sorts of brightly coloured fish swimming around my hands, and I saw a shark! Which I'm assured was a reef shark and harmless to humans, but was still rather bigger than I expected and did nearly make me swallow my snorkel!
The best bit of the day for me was the trip home though. We were on a small boat, around 15-20 passengers, 3 crew (all Brits!) and we switched off the engines and sailed the WHOLE way back to Cairns! We got a little wet, and our captain DID manage to put a little more of the boat under water than he meant to - probably because he was busy chatting up a bikini clad girl - but it was great fun! So yes, I LIKED sailing, and can only conclude that the reason I haven't liked it before is that England is COLD. Of course the wine and cheese we were served on the way back may have influenced my opinion rather too...
And now I'm in Sydney. And an MP3 player down, which I'm very unimpressed about. I arrived at Base backpackers to find a filthy smelly room and no common room. I immediately booked somewhere else and got my money back, so I'm now out near Kings Cross (the red light district) in what feels like a leafy London suburb. I have a bank account, a medicare card and a mobile. As yet I do not have a job or a flat, but I'm working on it - everything stops for weekend here!
Thursday 13 November 2008
Beaches and Rainforests
Having been in Cairns doing mostly nothing for 2 weeks it does seem that I've been incredibly busy. In fact too busy doing nothing to update my blog! However my internet time is about to expire, so it won't happen now either. I'm off to Sydney tomorrow morning, and I'll have to tell all then. Needless to say it has involved hammocks, ice-cream, crocs, fish and lots of sand and trees :o)
Sunday 2 November 2008
Sushi and Karaoke
Well what else are you going to do in Japan? But this was hardcore Karaoke. Singing with the best until 5am with free drinks, free icecream and tambourines. Yes there were tambourine related injuries. No I still can't get the karaoke classics out of my head!
So after our temple me and Lezanne went to Nikko and saw approximately a zillion temples and shrines, as well as experiencing an outdoor onsen in the middle of woodland. For those of you not in the know, and onsen is a Japanese bath, generally hot springs or water pumped up from underground, and you're naked. As we sat cheek to cheek (butt cheeks of course) and gazed out at the trees we wondered whether any monkeys would join us. Unfortunately we didn't see any monkeys (in the baths or otherwise), but we did see a Swiss magician, and Lezanne even saw him doing yoga! (I was NOT getting up for a 7am yoga class). After having relaxed completely we headed back to hectic Tokyo, which is where karaoke happened.
We also visited Miyoko, saw her lovely house, and got shown around the bright (rather daunting) lights of Shibuya by her. Which is where I experienced my first conveyer belt sashimi restaurant. Freshly made in front of us, about 100 yen a plate, and hidden down a side street in between the sex shop and the "love hotel" - you've gotta love Japan!
And I did, very much. However my bank balance has now breathed a sigh of relief as I am now in Cairns enjoying a couple of weeks in the sun before I have to find work in Sydney. So the first day I did nothing. Yesterday I did nothing by the lagoon (where a local indie band was playing for hours of chill out time). Today I.... erm.... did nothing. My plans for tomorrow? Nothing! I'm just enjoying being in the same place for a while! On Tuesday I plan to head up to Cape Tribulation, where I'll probably do nothing :o) Now this blog could turn very dull over the next week.... maybe I'll have to go diving or something.... (sky or sea? - place your votes now!)
So after our temple me and Lezanne went to Nikko and saw approximately a zillion temples and shrines, as well as experiencing an outdoor onsen in the middle of woodland. For those of you not in the know, and onsen is a Japanese bath, generally hot springs or water pumped up from underground, and you're naked. As we sat cheek to cheek (butt cheeks of course) and gazed out at the trees we wondered whether any monkeys would join us. Unfortunately we didn't see any monkeys (in the baths or otherwise), but we did see a Swiss magician, and Lezanne even saw him doing yoga! (I was NOT getting up for a 7am yoga class). After having relaxed completely we headed back to hectic Tokyo, which is where karaoke happened.
We also visited Miyoko, saw her lovely house, and got shown around the bright (rather daunting) lights of Shibuya by her. Which is where I experienced my first conveyer belt sashimi restaurant. Freshly made in front of us, about 100 yen a plate, and hidden down a side street in between the sex shop and the "love hotel" - you've gotta love Japan!
And I did, very much. However my bank balance has now breathed a sigh of relief as I am now in Cairns enjoying a couple of weeks in the sun before I have to find work in Sydney. So the first day I did nothing. Yesterday I did nothing by the lagoon (where a local indie band was playing for hours of chill out time). Today I.... erm.... did nothing. My plans for tomorrow? Nothing! I'm just enjoying being in the same place for a while! On Tuesday I plan to head up to Cape Tribulation, where I'll probably do nothing :o) Now this blog could turn very dull over the next week.... maybe I'll have to go diving or something.... (sky or sea? - place your votes now!)
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