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February 27 Breaking the law! Breaking the law!So, two bits of news from 'back home'. First of all, I was really excited to hear yesterday that my dear friend Mr Andrew 'Lothario' Best and his lovely girlfriend Amanda have got engaged! On a less happy note though - check out this email I just got from my mum... Rich, Sorry to report you have been caught ‘speeding’ in Australia. It is by fluke that the notice even arrived, as it had been sent to your old address. Fortunately the people there opened it, and when they realised what it was they forwarded it. You weren’t going that much over the limit, so bad luck Rich. Anyway - the notice is from the South Australia Police, with a penalty of 179 dollars due. Due date for payment is 20th March 2007. If you don’t pay up by this date, they send a reminder and charge you another 30 dollars. After that its court action. Where they ‘got you’ is at 9.42am on 27th January at Murray Bridge South Eastern Freeway. The code of the offence is 1001 and the specific ‘offence’ is exceeding 110kph limit – you were going at 120kph. The notice was issued to you on 20/2/07. Sorry to be the bearer of not so good news. Don't let it get you down though - just one of those things, Rich. In a word - bastards! And there was me thinking "Ain't it great how Australia isn't riddled with speed cameras like the UK?" February 26 Shot through the heart, and you're to blame! Darlin', you gave love a bad name..!So, where were we?
Well it's five days since I last wittered on in this blog, and I think it's fair to say that quite a lot has happened!
To pick up where I left off - the tail-end of last week saw me say farewell to Australia after seven weeks. And I'm pleased to say that my time 'Down Under' finished on a high note, with me spending my final night at a gig by the Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice, at a fairly small theatre in Sydney.
The boy Damo was excellent... although he did throw a bit of a strop at one point about the amount of people in the crowd who were taking photos. He even spent the next song with his back turned to the audience in protest!
So that was the gig. The next morning meanwhile saw me get up at 6am, in order to get to the airport in time for my 9am flight to New Zealand.
I must say, I wasn't in the best of moods at this rather unholy hour!
I don't know about anyone else, but whenever I have to get up early to make a flight or whatever, I always seem to have a really bad night's sleep. I think it's because I get subconsciously paranoid about the possibility of sleeping through my alarm and missing the plane altogether - and as such, I find myself waking up seemingly every 20 minutes!
So, I wasn't feeling particularly chipper during the three-hour flight - and my mood wasn't improved either by the fact that, after landing in Wellington, it took bloody ages to get through customs!
Still, there was one small mercy. For the last time I'd got an international flight - my plane from London to Perth - I'd got a bit stressed when I arrived, because I still wasn't massively familiar with what my brand new backpack looked like... and so I spent ages stood at the baggage carousel thinking "Shit! There's loads of rucksacks that all look the same... and I'm not entirely which one is mine!"
It's interesting though how things change. After nearly two months of living out of the thing, I'm better acquainted with its curves contours than I have been with any lover I've ever known!
So, my 15 kilos of backpack effortlessly located, I duly got a cab into Wellington - where for two nights, I'd be having the luxury of my own bedroom! This was because I'd arranged to stay with Jon 'Jonboy' Goldsmith - a top bloke I used to play football with in Nottingham, who's now living in Wellington with his girlfriend Laura.
What's more, it turned out that the timing of my arrival in 'Welly' was hugely fortuitous - because having landed on the Friday afternoon, it just so happened that the following day was to be the day of the city's annual Cuba Street Carnival!
Before that though, Friday night was a rather chilled evening of just catching up with Jonboy and Laura. And I use the word 'chilled' deliberately - because New Zealand was bloody freezing!
Well, it wasn't really - however, it felt that way after nearly two months in the scorching sun of Australia!
Now it's funny... but when I first announded my intention to go travelling, my mum definitely had her reservations about it. I suppose she's no different to any mothers worrying about her children. Specifically, I think she was a bit twitchy about the possibility of me being mauled to death by dingos in the outback, or even sold into slavery!
Amusingly though, one thing that seemed to make her feel better was buying me a ridiculously expensive lightweight all-weather Goretex jacket to take with me. The logic seemed to be that at least I'd look the part if I was to come to some terrible fate!
As it's turned out, this garment has spent virtually my entire trip so far buried at the bottom of my backpack, largely redundant. However, I was extremely grateful for it in New Zealand!
That said, aside from the weather, my first impressions of 'Welly' were entirely favourable. An attractive, compact city with hills on one side and a harbour on the other, it felt much less 'touristy' than anywhere I'd been in Australia. And walking through the town, I spotted not only some fine mullets, but also a fair number of chavs*!
And then there was the small matter of the Cuba Street Carnival... which was amazing! The event basically sees the entire city centre closed off and turned into a kind of urban Glastonbury... with the streets a colourful sea of live music, street entertainers and markets.
The atmosphere was brilliant... and the sun even came out! We spent the whole day just wandering around taking in the whole spectacle - with some of the highlights including a live performance by the Wellington Ukelele Orchestra... who perform amusing intrepretations of rock classics on their chosen instrument!
There were also a lot of 'unofficial' performers busking on corners - best of all, a guy beatboxing into a road cone, accompanied by another guy rapping!
And then there were some things that was simply surreal - not least a successful breaking of the world record for the most people taking part in a sychronised dance routine! Hilariously, the piece of music chosen for this feat was 'You Gave Love a Bad Name' by Bon Jovi - and fittingly, about half the people who took part were seemingly dressed in spandex!
So, an excellent day, all in all - and one in which we got quite drunk, owing to the fact that it was perfectly okay to walk around drinking on the streets!
Amusingly, the aforementioned similarity between the carnival and Glasto had given me a bit of a craving for cider - and amazingly, I actually managed to find an offie that sold the stuff for ten NZ dollars for a 1.25 litre bottle!
This actually led to a highly entertaining incident at the end of the night, when we staggered into a chippy in search of sustenence. Here, we found ourselves being pestered by three punk dudes, begging us for change so they could afford to buy some alcohol!
The punk dudes claimed to be a band called Thunderpunk... and they'd apparently been busking to try and raise funds! Alas though, it was our duty to break the news to them that they'd struggle to find anywhere to buy any booze... as by this stage, all the offies had closed.
This saw looks of horror on the punk guys' faces - and clearly desperate for some grog, they began gazing longingly at my remaining cider ... and actually offered to buy it off me!
So hilariously, I actually ended up with four dollars for a half-empty, flat, warm bottle of cider! Oh, and they also threw in an amusing Jesus pamphlet which they were in possession of, for reasons that we couldn't quite determine.
On we staggered with this unexpected booty... and the next thing we encountered was a crazy old woman who'd set up a stall on a street corner selling a load of manky old clothes!
I mean, how cool is that - how many other capital cities in the world are there where you can start your own flea market smack bang in the city centre, and the coppers just shrug their shoulders and let you get on with it?!
I decided it'd be funny to try and use the Thunderpunk money to try and buy a slightly rakish tweed suit jacket - however, my offer of four dollars only led to the crazy old woman ranting at us about how people these days have no respect, and some bloke called George W Bush who's apparently hellbent on destroying the world!
Utter madness! Still, that's the Cuba Street Carnival for you - and I must say, I rather regretted drinking so much cider the next morning - as was making an early start in order to get a ferry over to New Zealand's south island.
Still, the scenery during the three-hour crossing to Picton was breathtaking. And it was much the same during the subsequent train journey from Picton down to Christchurch - where, for much of the five-hour trip, I had mountains to my right and the ocean to my left! At one point we actually passed a stretch of coast that's apparently one of the best places in the world to see both whales and albatrosses! Sadly, I didn't see any - although there were loads of seals basking on the rocks.
New Zealand being New Zealand, there were also, needless to say, loads of sheep in the fields adjacent to the train tracks! These were quite amusing - because as soon as they saw the train coming, they'd all run to the hills en masse, clearly terrified! You could just imagine their train of thoughts - "Shit, it's that bloody great snake that comes slithering along three times a day... RUN!!!"
So, a pleasant journey - and after staying overnight in Christchurch, I sorted out a cheap hire car (a Nissan Bluebird saloon) in order to continue travelling wards to my main reason for coming to the south island - the Franz Joseph Glacier. This is a five-hour drive from Christchurch, across New Zealand's Southern Alps. And this proved to be a spectacular journey, with more huge mountains than you could shake a brown pole at! Some of them even had snow on the top, while others disappeared entirely into the clouds! There were also some breaktaking valleys and lakes - and all in all, I was pleasantly surprised to arrive in Franz Joseph in one piece really, given how difficult it was to concentrate on the road.
Now the Franz Joseph Glacier is basically a huge lump of ice about 11 kilometres long, wedged between two mountains. And I'm pleased to say that it was stunning and well worth the journey!
In terms of going to check out the glacier, there were several options. Going up in a helicopter and landing in the snow on the top of the thing was enormously tempting... however, it was also quite pricey, so in the end I elected to go on a guided hike. This proved a good choice, as our guide, Mike, was really informative and funny. His best gag was that the glacier had actually been constructed out of polystyrene for the recent 'Lord of the Rings' movies, for which it was used as a major location.
Amazingly, an American guy on the hike - who, hilariously, was called Randy! - actually believed this!
On a more serious note - despite what you'd expect what with global warming and all that, I also learned that the glacier is actuallt growing. "You guys on this evening tour are getting better value for money than the guys who were on the morning tour," quipped Mike, "because the glacier's actually grown about three milimetres since the morning!"
As well as getting to climb up part of the glacier, the highlight of the trek was when we sat down for a rest afterwards. Presumably thinking we'd have some food, a pair of Keas landed right by the rocks where we were sitting, and came wandering within a few feet of us! Keas, for those of you who don't know, are the world's only alpine parrot, and are native to New Zealand.
In terms of wildlife, we also spotted loads of wood pigeons on the trek. Brilliantly, these are renowned for gorging themselves on a particularly type of berry that makes them get really drunk!
So that was the trek - and with night having fallen by the time we arrived back in Franz Joseph, I decided to see if I could spot any glow worms... which are apparently a common sight around this part of New Zealand.
Must say though, I soon found myself wondering whether wandering off on my own into the woods in the pitch black was such a good idea. It all felt VERY 'Blair Witch'... and I when I heard a twig snap nearby, I started cacking myself big time!
Fortunately though, a furtive shine of my torch showed that, rather than a fierce wild boar keen on goring me in the anus, the sound had actually been made by a group of German backpackers who were also hunting for glow worms! I duly joined them, and after going deeper into the woods we saw loads! It was amazing - although sadly, they didn't come up particularly well on photographs.
So, a bit of a long blog entry - but that brings you all fully up to date on what I've been up to! In terms of 'What next?' - well, as soon as I've finished faffing about it the internet cafe that I'm in at the moment, I shall be making the journey back from Franz Joseph to Christchurch... and then flying from there back up to the north island - specifically, Auckland.
Then, tomorrow, I shall be commencing a ten-day guided group hiking trip, in which I'll be climbing an active volcano, kayaking across lakes, and spending the nights sleeping in a tent!
Watch this space for more..!
* The Kiwis call them 'Bogans'! February 22 I couldn't stop thinking about her. And every time I turned on the radio there was someone else, singing a song about the two of us...So, this looks very likely to be my final dispatch from Australia - as tomorrow morning, I'll be getting up at the crack of dawn* to catch a plane to my next destination... New Zealand!
Naturally, I'm very excited about New Zealand, where I'll be spending just over two weeks, before moving on to Asia.
However, I'm also really sad to be leaving Australia.
I've had a fabulous time here, and have seen and experiennced some amazing things. And the place has definitely got under my skin. Indeed, despite having only been here a relatively short amount of time, I've picked up a scary amount of Aussie slang - with petrol now being 'gas', cool boxes 'eskis', and - my favourite! - surfers 'shark biscuits'!
I could give a long list of reasons why I love it here so much. Being a bit of a sun child, I've adored the almost constant sunshine. The Aussie people are also wonderful. A lot of the scenery is amazing too.
And then there's the fabulously diverse wildlife. As well as the obvious critters such as the crocs and the koala bears monged off their boxes on eucalyptus leaves, I've also seen some relatively obscure creatures that have been nonetheless brilliant - from dragonflies to possums.
There's also a lot of randomness that will linger long in the memory. Here, in no particular order, is a round-up of some of those things that I've not already mentioned in previous blog entries...
Aussie Pigeons and other common birds - These are much more cheeky than their British counterparts! If you happen to be sat in, say, McDonalds or Burger King (or 'Hungry Jack's, as the latter is called here), then the feathered fiends often fly inside and start pecking around for crumbs underneath the tables!
Australian TV - Fabulously cheesy! My favourite programme is 'The Biggest Loser', a reality show in which a load of chubsters go head to head to try and lose the most weight. Equally entertaining is 'Bondi Rescue', a real-life docusoap following the day-to-day working lives of the lifeguards who work on Bondi Beach. Having been staying up in Bondi over the last week, I've actually seen quite a lot of filming going on for this. It made me a bit paranoid about going in the sea to be honest, due to fears that I might get caught in a current, and end up on national Aussie TV being rescued by Bondi's answer to the Hoff!
Oh, and one final note on the subject of TV - 'The Bill' is MASSIVE in Australia! You couldn't make it up!
Linen department - In most department stores here, the linen department is known as 'Manchester'. I still haven't managed to fathom out why!
Lift music - Most major railway stations here in Australia seem to pipe a sort of soothing jazz music across their concourses. It's quite bizarre!
My favourite bit of randomness that I've encountered here though is piece of information relating to my Uncle Tony.
Now Tony - or 'Yom', as he is inexplicably known throughout the family - is one of the funniest people I know... and unquestionably a man who uses swear words with more panache than anyone else on the planet!
One Yom story that has gone down in legend in our family concerns an evening a few years back when my dad popped round to see him, to find that he was enjoying a bottle of red wine.
Unsually though, Yom was drinking it chilled!
"What yer doin', Yom?" my dad duly joshed. "You don't put red wine in the fridge!"
Without skipping a beat, Yom looked at my dad dead in the eye and uttered a defiant reply: "Well I fookin' do!"
You probably have to know Yom to find this funny - but needless to say, it's a story that's caused a great deal of mirth across the family in recent years. However, it turns out that Yom was maybe onto something after all - because when I was in Perth and went on a tour of some of the vineyards in the nearby Swan Valley region, I actually discovered that there's a red wine produced here that you're supposed to drink chilled!
So there you have it - it seems that Yom is actually far more cultured than any of us had perhaps given him credit for!
* I wonder if people called Dawn ever use the phrase 'crack of dawn'? Does anyone now anyone called Dawn? If so, can you ask them and let me know please! February 21 Life is very short, and there's no ti-i-i-i-ime... for fussing and fighting my friend...Last year, when I decided I was definitely going to head off travelling, I largely got one of two reactions from people when I told them of my plans.
One of these was "You lucky bastard", or words to that effect - something which I couldn't really comprehend, given that I was only doing what most people could easily do if only they had the balls and determination.
On a more positive note though, the other reaction from folk tended to be "Wow, you'll meet some amazing people." And nearly two months into my adventure, that has certainly proven to be true.
Of course, I've met a fair few tossers as well - but hey, life is always about sorting the wheat from the chaff. And I'm pleased to say that I've encountered plenty of entertaining characters along my journey so far. Some of them, I've mentioned in my blog already. Some folk that I haven't mentioned include Louise from Glasgow, who I met in Perth - who arrived in Australia just before Christmas, and heroically managed to smuggle a Marks and Spencers Christmas pudding through the Aussie customs, where the officials are notoriously anal about any food items being brought into the country!
A special mention must also go to the lovely Thannee, a hilarious 18-year-old Belgian girl who is currently travelling round Australia with, of all people, her dad!
However, it's all very transient. Yes, travelling enables you to hang out with all sorts of different people from all sorts of different walks of life... and to have lots of fun in doing so.
But in most cases, it'll invariably be very fleeting - as after a couple of days, the chances are you'll both be moving on to pastures new... and in completely different directions. And sometimes, you do start to yearn for your proper friends from back home, who know you inside out and warts and all.
It's funny though, the whole business of meeting people when you're travelling. It's a bit like starting university all over again, in the sense that you tend to have lots of very similar conversations - except rather than "Where are you from and what course are you doing?", it's more a case of "Where are you from, and how long have you been in Australia?"
And it ocurred to me the other day that I've now pretty much graduated to the ranks of the more seasoned travellers. Initially, I was all wide-eyed and green - whereas now, I'm one of the people offering fatherly advice to those who are just a few days or weeks into their adventure.
Of course, with most travellers tending to be on a fairly tight budget, a lot of the conversations you end up having with your fellow vagabonds tend to revolve around methods of keeping costs low. And it's interesting to see the different approaches that people take on this front.
Me, I've saved probably hundreds of Aussie dollars by regularly using a fake student ID card to gain concession on admission prices... and by walking to places rather than paying to get a bus or tram.
On the whole though, I get the impression that the most popular way of saving money among travellers is to spend as little as possible on food. And I must say, each time I go into the communal kitchen at whichever backpacker dive I'm staying at, it depresses me a bit just to see the amount of bland, soul-less dishes I see being thrown together, consisting of the cheapest of the cheap ingredients - dried pasta with a bit of tomato puree, and suchlike.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly dining on lavish platters of vintage smoked cheeses every day! But nevertheless, I've always felt that meals are a bit of an event during the day, and are thus worth pushing the boat out for just a little bit. At least to a point where you actually get to enjoy what you make anyway... rather than merely creating something just to stave off the hunger!.
Indeed, I've actually rediscovered my love of cooking since I started travelling. I say 'rediscovered' because, as most of you will know, I was living at my mum and dad's place for a good number of months up until I left for Australia - and as part of that arrangement, I barely had to lift a finger in the kitchen... on account of my dad being the boss in that particular department.
Then, for a couple of years prior to that, I was living with my ex-girlfriend, Jules... whose possessiveness when it came to the kitchen was so terrifying that I was pretty much banned from going in there!
Not that I was complaining, as Jules was - and presumably still is - an amazing cook. However, this all equates to a good three-year period of my life where I hardly did any cooking.
Suddenly though, I find myself in Australia, and lots of time on my hands. And amid all the bland pasta dishes, I'm pleased to say that my culinary efforts in youth hostel kitchens across Australia have not gone unnoticed! From grilled asparagus salads to chick-pea curries, my various concoctions have definitely helped me make friends.
Suffice to say, it's hard to cook a proper meal for one - you always end up with sufficient quantities to feed three or four! Often, I deal with this situation by simply sticking any leftover stuff in a Tupperware box, and saving it for the next day.
However, there's also been numerous occasions when someone's wandered in to the kitchen, checked out what I'm making, and gone "Hmm, that smells good" - at which point I'm like "Cheers - do you want some?"
Now they say that, in life, you get out what you put in - and I'm pleased to say that, more often than not, my benevolence with food has been rewarded. A common scenario is for the person you feed to offer you some booze in return... or to offer to cook for you the next night.
There have also been some other interesting favours in return - some of which I won't go into in any detail here, as I'm aware that various members of my family read this blog, and probably want to retain the delusion that I'm some kind of innocent, wholesome character!
One of my best trades though was back when I was in Brisbane - when I offered some curry to an English girl called Kirsty.
As it turned out, Kirsty was a hairdresser, who'd come over to Australia to find work... and she had just managed to bag a job at a posh salon. As such, I duly found myself sat there the next day, enjoying a free hair cut - and as a consequence, I'm now rocking the 'mohican with a blonde streak down the middle' look that I sported for much of 2004!
Well, I figured I may as well go for a slightly ridiculous hair-do - after all, these next few months are my last chance to have one really, what with my new career in teaching beckoning in September..! February 20 And isn't nature wonderful... or is this art?Hey everyone.... HAPPY PANCAKE DAY!
So... what to report?
Well besides eating some pancakes, today saw me have my first ever surfing lesson!
Yes, after days of lazing on Bondi Beach watching people ride the waves, I simply couldn't resist giving it a go myself. And so after making a few enquiries, I duly found myself heading down this evening to the Bondi Beach Surf School... where, along with five other surfing virgins, I was to partake in a two-hour beginners' class!
Now if you happen to have seen the video footage that exists of my woeful attempts to ski - which was filmed about three years ago when I had a skiing lesson with none other than Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwarrds! - then you probably won't have massive expectations of my first foray into the waves with a full-size (nine foot!) surfboard!*
Shockingly though, I was actually quite good - with there having been numerous occasions when I managed to catch a wave, get on my feet, and actually stay on the board!
Before the actual surfing though, we had to get kitted out in wetsuits... and also had to go through a briefing with the lovely Claire, our instructor for the evening. She talked us through all the techniques that we'd be using. We then headed out into the surf, where all the fun began!
Now Bondi Beach is renowned as being one mof the greatest surfing beaches in the world - and as we paddled out into the sea with our boards, it was not hard to see why! We only had to go about 30 metres from the shore to find huge waves... waves which were soon propelling us back towards the beach!
Needless to say, my first few attempts were pretty hapless - one time I lost balance, fell off the board, and ended up having the thing twat me round the head!
After a few goes though, it suddenly all seemed to click. And even on the times when I didn't manage to stand up, the feeling of adrenaline when a wave took hold of you and sent you rushing towards the shore was a massive buzz!
On one occasion, the buzz was also tempered by no small degree of panic - when, in a split second, the thought suddenly entered my head that I was hurtling towards a small child, who was obliviously paddling near the edge of the water!
Fortunately I managed to swerve out of the kid's way - only to collide with a fellow member of the surf class!
Overall, great fun... and the two hours was up all too quickly. I must say, I can easily see why people get the 'surfing bug'. Indeed, I think there'd definitely be a danger of me getting it myself... but for the small matter of Nottingham being a two-hour drive away in any direction from any waves!
* If anyone wants a copy of 'Rich Goes Skiing with Eddie the Eagle!' on DVD, then drop me an email and I'm sure I can persuade the erstwhile director of aforesaid production - my brother Al! - to burn a copy and post it to you! It's all professionally edited and everything, with the 'Ski Sunday' music dubbed over the top! February 19 If Jesus came to Earth today, they'd crucify him straight away, upon a cross of MDF... and they'd use 'No Need For Nails'!Sydney, as many of you may know, is widely regarded as one of the gayest cities on the planet. And when I say gay, I don't mean in the Enid Blyton sense of the word!
At present, the gay community here is a hive of activity - as the build-up has well and truly begun for the city's annual Mardi Gras jambouree.
Yesterday was the Mardi Gras Fair - and myself and a few other folks who I've befriended during my time here in Sydney decided to go and check it out.
Held at a big park a short distance from the city centre, the Mardi Gras Fair was pretty much like a smaller, more urban version of Glastonbury - only infinitely gayer! It all made for a fabulous spectacle... with loads of drag queens and other flamboyant characters wandering about, and a real sense of celebration in the air.
I really enjoy gay culture. And it really makes me laugh how terrified most other straight men are of it. It's like "Uggg, I'm not going to admit that I like the Pet Shop Boys... cos people might think I'm fookin' gay."
Get over yourselves, guys!
One funny moment at the fair was when I was accosted by a guy who asked me to fill out a questionnaire abot sexual habits. I was happy to oblige - however, when I started reading the questions, it was obvious that I'd been asked under the assumption that I was gay myself. One of the more tame multiple choice questions, for example, was "How often to you suck another guy's cock and let him jizz in your mouth?"!
Now I hate to be the party pooper and I will try MOST things once - however, I found myself ticking the 'Never' box for virtually all of the questions!
I only hope that they got lots of other people to complete the survey - otherwise my answers might have skewed the whole thing, and made Sydney's gay community seem like the most frigid and least promiscuous in the world!
Meanwhile, with me having brought a three-litre box of goon* along, the day also ended up becoming a bit of a boozing session!
And hilariously, when I produced the goon, one of the other guys revealed that there's a traditional Australian drinking game called 'Wheel of Goon'. Inspired by the rubbish TV game show 'Wheel of Fortune', this involves getting a circular clothes line, getting the participants to lie in a circle below it. Someone then ties a box of goon to one side of the washing line and spins it - and wherever the goon 'lands', the person below has to drink and be merry!
Inspired, I'm sure you'll agree. I love Aussie people!
* If you don't know what goon is, then you should have been paying more attention when reading previous blog entries! February 18 Rising up, back on the street, took my time, took my chances...Those of you who know me well will know that I have a tendency to find myself involved in bizarre shenanigans on a fairly regular basis. Indeed, a friend of mine, Ste, calls me 'The Hub of all Things'... as he strongly believes that I have connections of varying degrees of tenuousness to EVERYTHING that goes on in the world.
Meanwhile, another friend - the redoubtable Mikey B - refers to me, for similar reasons, as 'The Totally Random Man'!
Now I've got to say, there have been times when I have engineered the shenanigans in question. For instance, no-one forced me to get spandexed up and enter the UK Air Guitar Championships in 2003! Likewise, the decision to enter Gloucester's legendary annual cheese race in 2005 was made purely of my own free will.
Generally though, I would say that I just seem to have a knack of finding myself in the right place at the right time. And yesterday was a classic example - as I unwittingly found myself stumbling upon the Australian premiere of the new Rocky movie!
Picture the scene - it's about 8pm, and having decided finally to go and have a proper shuftie at downtown Sydney, I was wandering through the city's very pretty Botanic Gardens.
It was all very idyllic. The sun was starting to set, there were loads of bats flying around... and I also spotted a Kookaburra!
Suddenly though, I turned a corner and came to a fenced off area, which was surrounded by crowds of people who all seemed quite excited. Intrigued, I wandered over to have a look at what was going on - to find the throngs were gathered either side of a walkway, and craning their necks seemingly to try and catch a glimpse of a short-ish, permatanned guy with a mullet.
It was only when Mullet Guy turned round though that I sussed what was going on - yes, it was a rather wizened-looking Sylvester Stallone!
Honestly - and to think I'd just gone for a walk in the park..!
Still, ageing Hollywood tough guys aside, what do I make then of downtown Sydney?
Well, besides the space-age monorail train, I wasn't massively impressed by the place at first - initially, it just felt like a shrunken version of London.
Indeed, it even has a lot of the same place names - for instance, there's a Hyde Park, a Paddington, a King's Cross, a Liverpool Street...
However, then I got to the harbour - and I must say, I was completely knocked out by it. With the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the aforementioned Botanic Gardens all next to each other, it simply makes Sydney one of the most stunning cities you could possibly wish to visit.
And that's just during the daytime - at night when it's all lit up, it's absolutely gorgeous!
And Sydney's a great city to simply walk around aimlessly, just checking stuff out. I must have walked for miles yesterday, including the cliched but obligatory trek across the harbour bridge and back.
Oh, and with the city being dominated by the harbour, a popular method of getting from A to B is by water taxi... which is pretty cool really!
So that was Sydney by day. By night, meanwhile, I discovered that it's one huge party city!
Having spent the day sightseeing, the evening saw me hook up with Vicky and Michelle, two cool English girls who I'd met a couple of nights previously up in Bondi. And along with a couple of their other friends, we proceeded to paint the town red!
Our first port of call was a bar called Minus 5. Amazingly, this is a bar that's sculpted entirely out of ice! Yes, even the chairs and tables you sit at, and the glasses that you drink out of!
It's certainly the first time I've been to a bar where you have to be given a health and safety briefing before you go in. "Don't drink from the waterfall," we were told, "because it's actually made out of de-icer!"
Needless to say, Minus 5 made for a very surreal but fun experience! You're only actually allowed to stay in there for half an hour, as otherwise you would actually freeze to death. And they lend you massive Liam Gallagher style hooded parka coats to wear while you're in there so you don't perish!
Also, drinking in sub-zero conditions apparently makes you get drunk faster. This could possibly be used as an excuse for the state that we all subsequently got in. Indeed, recollections of the night are slightly hazy... but I do recall going to a club that was having a night themed on the Chinese New Year, and dancing like a loon to the Scissor Sisters whilst wearing a Chinese-style hat... before staggering back to my digs at Bondi sometime around 5am!
Off to the beach now to recover, methinks..! February 17 Another sunny afternoon, walking to the sound of my favourite tune...Well, I'm pleased to say that the trusty Greyhound bus got me to Sydney safely - and having been here a couple of days, I must say it's a pretty cool place!
That said, I haven't really checked out much of the actual city centre yet. Having decided I'd rather keep away from all the hustle and bustle, I've decided to book myself into a backpacker dive a few miles away from the centre, up in the suburb of Bondi. This, of course, is famous for Bondi Beach - which is where I've spent most of my time since I arrived!
And Bondi is actually quite a charming little place. I was sorried it was going to be a bit tacky - however, it's full of cool cafes and bars and shops. It's also quite funny as there are beautiful bronze people EVERWHERE! The men in particular are hilarious - the way the pose and preen on the beach, it's as if they think they are the Hoff or something!
So, other than lazing on the beach, not a whole lot to report really! Mind you, I think I've earned a bit of a rest after all the hectic shenanigans of the last few weeks! February 14 Love! Love will tear us apart! Again!So, it's Valentine's Day... and I must say, it's more ubiquitous here in Australia than even back home in the UK!
Pleased to say that I've managed to secure a date for the evening - sadly though, it's merely a date with a bus... what with me having decided to get the overnight Greyhound to Sydney... which will be final destination in Australia, before I move on to New Zealand in just over a week!
For now though, I'm just sat in an internet cafe in Brisbane, killing time before the 7pm bus departure.
So what have I been up to since my last blog entry?
Well, if you're up to speed with my ramblings, you'll probably be eager to hear all about the two 'day tours' I did up in Airlie Beach - one a diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef, and the other a river cruise to see crocs in the wild!
First of all though, let me just tell you a bit about the campsite where my co-pilot Dariel and I stayed.
Now prior to arriving in Airlie Beach on our campervan adventure, we'd been simply finding a suitable spot on the street to set up camp for the evening! However, we then learned that this is actually illegal - so on arrival in Airlie Beach, we went on the hunt for a campsite. And we fell on our feet with the one that we choose... because it was amazing! Not only were the facilities great, it was absolutely swarming with birds - mainly rainbow lorikeets and sulphur-crested cockatoos! This was probably because the staff at the site put food out for them every day - indeed, I went along to 'feeding time' both days that we stayed, and each time ended up with about 20 lorikeets sat all over my head and shoulders!
Ace as the lorikeets were though, it was swimming creatures rather than flying ones that I'll mainly remember Airlie Beach for - as on the two 'day tours' I went on, I saw more swimming than you could shake a brown pole at!
First of all, the Great Barrier Reef! This is actually takes a couple of hours to get to from the coast, so myself and a load of other travellers had to make quite an early start as we sped out into the sea on a yacht past the pretty Whitsunday Islands. Amusingly, the boat in question was just like the one from the Duran Duran 'Rio' video - and upon arriving at the reef, the crew got us kitted up ready to go and check it out.
Now a lot of you who know me will probably be surprised that I 'took the plunge' (literally) and did a scuba dive - as it's something I've always shyed away from doing whenever I've had the opportunity before. I don't know why really - I think it's a mixture of not being a very strong swimmer, and also the fact that I find underwater stuff a bit creepy!
However, Dariel is an experienced diver, and she assured me that not being a great swimmer wouldn't be an issue... due to the fact that the gear you get kitted out with when you do a scuba dive enables you to float. This suddenly made me feel much more confident - and whilst there was no change to my opinion of underwater stuff being a bit creepy, I decided to go for it. Overall, my feeling was that if I was going to go all the way out to the Great Barrier Reef, I'd probably end up regretting it if I was to only see it from the surface with a mask and snorkel.
Unfortunately, I didn't get off to a great start with the scuba-ing. After a briefing on what to do, I got into the water with an instructor and two other first-time divers... and after descending a few feet, my ears began to hurt really bad. Now we had been shown the method to stop this - but for me, it just didn't seem to be working. And frankly, the instructor was a complete bell-end. Given that I'd never done a dive before and was quite nervous, he was really impatient and arsey with me. The whole thing was quite stressful... and in the end, I just felt I was holding everyone else back, so decided to bail out and go back up to the boat.
Needless to say, I was quite pissed off - and besides wanting to strangle the wanky instructor guy, my view at this point was very much a case of "Oh well, that's that... this scuba lark obviously isn't for me - but hey at least I've given it a try."
It's strange though how good can come from a crap experience. Seeing that I was clearly fed up, one of the other instructors came and asked what had gone wrong... and persuaded me to give it another go with him, on a one-to-one basis. And unlike his colleague, he was brilliant - as within minutes, I'd got all the methods sussed, and was merrily floating around 12 metres below the surface! The reef is astonishingly beautiful and otherworldly... with tons of colourful fish, clams, sponges and plants. Best of all, I actually got quite close to a stingray and three sharks!
Naturally, I was a bit unnerved in both cases... although the instructor guys had assured us in the briefing that the types of sharks and stingrays found at the part of the reef where we did the dive are not dangerous. Pleased to say that I got some amazing photos with one of those disposable cameras... including one of one of the sharks! I'll hopefully get these uploaded in the next few days.
All in all, I spent a good half-hour under the water, though it went VERY quickly! Returning the boat was very much a case of 'back to earth with a bump' - not least because it dawned on me soon after getting back on board that I had an urgent need to produce my very own 'brown shark'! And trying to extradite yourself from a wetsuit with sufficient speed in this situation does not make for a particularly dignified sight!
Still, an amazing experience - and a good advert for the virtues of taking a step outside your comfort zone, methinks!
So, that was the first 'day tour' - what of the river cruise to see crocs? Well this was down the Proserpine River, where several hundred estuarine crocs live - those being the biggest and most dangerous of all crocs. With them being wild, there was no guarantee that we'd actually see any - but I'm pleased to report that we spotted a good half a dozen! Most of them were lazing on the banks in the sun, looking incredibly smug... and I was quite surprised, if a tad alarmed, by how close the boat went to them. With one croc, we went within about three metres!
It was interesting to learn more about the crocs too from our tour guide. Amazingly, they can hold their breath under water for up to six hours!
And despite all the hype about them eating people, the number of croc-related fatalities is surprisingly low. Indeed, our guide informed us that the number of people who died in Australia in the year 2000 through having a vending machine fall on them - usually due to the person shaking it in anger after having their money swallowed - was actually greater than the number who died through croc, snake and shark attacks combined!
Fancy that!
Meanwhile, as well as the river cruise, the tour also saw us taken on a trip through the nearby wetlands, in a trailer pulled by a tractor! This was fascinating too - with our guide pointing out all sorts of interesting plants and wildlife. This included a snake - a red-bellied black, which is a type of cobra. We also spotted some black swans, a kingfisher and some frogs! Apparently there's a native frog here in Australia where, if you catch one and lick its back, you end up tripping for hours!
It would certainly have been interesting to have given this a go - sadly though, there was the small matter of me having to be compus mentus for the long drive back to Brisbane in the campervan! This was a bit of a ballache - mainly because we'd spent too long really enjoying Airlie Beach and the attractions of the surrounding area, and were left with barely more than a day to cover the 800 miles!
That said, we did get to experience an amazing thunderstorm... and looking at it in terms of the whole week, the road trip in the campervan was an amazing experience. As well as the places and things we saw, there was also lots of randomness when we were on the road. I'm still smiling at the thought of stopping at a gas station and thinking we'd got a real bargain because they were selling mangos at the equivalent of ten pence a piece - only to discover a few minutes later that there were hundreds of the things growing beside the road that you could just help yourself to!
And at one point we had about 30 Hell's Angels following us! This was very amusing given the slogan on the back of our van - though as I said in my last blog entry, I'll keep this as a surprise for now. Seriously, you need to see the photos when I manage to get them uploaded!
Dariel and me also got on famously... and it was quite sad really when the time came this morning to go our separate ways. Oh, and in response to some of the frankly cheeky emails I've had in response to the last blog entry, I'd like to say for the record that it was purely platonic between Dariel and me from start to finish!
Saying that, the fact that most people who saw the two of us together over the last week probably assumed that I'd been a recent visitor to www.asianwebbrides.com wasn't lost on me..! February 10 Let's take a break away... in a campervan!Hey folks back home! Enjoying the snow, y'all?!
I'm sitting typing this update from the small coastal town of Airlie Beach, having travelled some 800 miles north since I wrote my last blog entry four days ago! And it's certainly been an eventful few days... As you may know, I decided when I was in Brisbane that'd it'd be cool to rent a campervan and go on a bit of a road trip along the Queensland coast. However, I'm obviously here in Australia by myself - and I felt it'd be a bit lonely and tragic to be chugging around in such a vehicle on my 'Jack Jones'! As such, I decided to use a bit of initiative - and duly found myself sticking a few notices up on lamp posts around Brisbane in the area where most of the backpacker dives are... basically saying "Does anyone fancy an adventure in a campervan, in return for chipping in towards the coast of rental and petrol?" I put my mobile number at the bottom - and pleasingly, a few people actually got in touch! I subsequently met up with a couple of them - which was quite funny actually. I felt a bit like the characters in the film 'Shallow Grave', when they decide to interview potential new flatmates! Anyway - to cut a long story short, the 'job' of being my co-pilot for the week went to Dariel, a 33-year-old English teacher from Taiwan with a wicked sense of humour - and also a seasoned traveller, who possesses not only a compass and a Swiss army knife, but also one of those torches attached to a headband that you wear on your head! So... my travel companion sorted, it was just a case of picking up the van and heading off. Now you're probably thinking "Ah! A campervan! Rich is living the hippie dream!" I'm afraid to say though that our 1989 Mazda rustbucket is possibly the least hippie camper van you've ever seen! Just wait till I manage to get some photos uploaded of the thing - I'm pretty confident you will all be VERY amused! But anyway, off we set... and driving along in the van immediately felt like a combination of being in the A-Team, being in the Scooby Doo gang, and being a rock band on tour - only a rock band that doesn't actually have to bother its arse playing any shows! We soon got into a very pleasant daily routine. Essentially, each day so far has been a case of wake up, get our shit together and get driving, stop somewhere cool and check it out, get back in the van and drive some more, find somewhere else cool to stop for the night... and then set up camp and cook dinner using the built-in kitchen on the back of the van! Pleased to report that we've been eating like kings - and Dariel is an amazing cook! We've camped in some pretty cool places as well. One night, we actually camped virtually on the beach, which was great... although less great when we managed to get the van stuck in the sand! Fortunately though, some rugged Aussie dudes spotted my frankly piss-poor attempts at pushing the van, and towed us back to terra firma with their 4x4! I also actually slept on the roof of the van one night, simply because it was so hot! You probably think this sounds a bit precarious - however, after a month of living in youth hostels and ending up with a 'top bunk' bed on numerous occasions, I've become adept at being able to sleep at great heights without rolling over and falling out of bed! But anyway - where have we actually been? Well, much of our travels have been up the Bruce Highway, which one of Australia's main motorways. I have no idea who Bruce is, but there's certainly been some interesting and diverse stuff to look at by the side of his highway - from acres upon acres of burnt trees from recent bushfires, through to fields of sugarbeet, to some of the longest rail trains I've ever seen! And amusingly, part of the Bruce Highway is also named 'Steve Irwin Way'! In terms of the places we've checked out as we've motored our way up the highway, there are too many to mention really. Special mentions however go to the following: Fraser Island - This is an amazing island off the coast of Australia, which is made entirely out of sand! There is actually vehicle access to the island via ferry, but it's only really suitable for 4x4s... so sadly, it was no-go for our campervan. Still, we decided to go on foot anyway - and actually managed to get a free lift on the ferry! We duly spent a very pleasant afternoon lazing on the amazing beaches and wandering through the jungle of the inner island... where I accidentally got tangled in a huge spiderweb, to the clear annoyance of its architect - a huge black and yellow spider roughly the size of my hand! Naturally, I nearly pappered my kecks! Gympie - A fairly hundrum town, but we decied to have a look anyway just for it's highly amusing name! Rainbow Beach - Sadly, nothing to do with George, Bungle and co! However, this beach was amazing! As the name suggests, it's made of sands of numerous different colours - whites, yellows, browns, and blues even! Again, just wait till I manage to get some photos uploaded! The beach also has sand dunes approximately 30 metres high! We were going to try and find some sheets of cardboard and go 'sledging' down them... but then it occurred to us that this would perhaps be inappropriate behaviour in such a spot of outstanding natural beauty! Tin Can Bay - A small marina where we got to feed a pair of wild dolphins! The bay has a whole tribe of the fishy critters - apparently, an injured dolphin was beached in the bay years ago, and the local fisherman looked after it until it was fit enough to go back to sea. That dolphin presumably told the rest of the dolphins about how great the fishermen were - as ever since, the bay has been swarming with them! Town of 1770 - Again, another small marina... notable for being where Captain James Cook landed when he first discovered Australia, back in 1770 (hence the name). Best place we visited though was undoubtedly Gracemere - as it's home of my Australian relatives! Peter Allen is my mum's cousin, and though I'd never met him before, I figured it'd be rude not to drop in, since we were virtually passing where he lives on our trip! And Dariel and me duly spent a very enjoyable evening at his home. Having spoken to Peter on the phone to sort out the visit, we'd arranged to pull in off the highway just before Gracemere, and then wait for him to come and meet us, so he could lead us to his gaff. And amazingly, both him and his son Patrick turned up on vintage motorbikes! It was ace following them - like having a police escort! What's more, just before turning into Peter's driveway, we spotted about five kangaroos bouncing through an adjacent field! After parking up at Chez Allen, we also met Peter's wife Shelley, plus one of their other sons, Casey. They were lovely people, and their house was amazing - a bungalow situated amid a sprawling four-acre plot of land! They also have two dogs and a horse, as well as lots of cars and motorbikes - with Peter and Patrick both being keen on restoring them. It was certainly fascinating to find out more about the Allens. Most of their immediate family actually live in the Bahamas, which I knew about. What I didn't know though is that one of my distant cousins over there actually worked on a restored pirate ship that was used as one of the main filming locations for the the last Pirates of the Caribbean Film! And I was surprised too to discover that I actually have a load of distant relatives who are black, what with one of Peter's sisters in the Bahamas having married a Jamaican guy and had children with him. So, on the whole, I was really pleased that I made the effort to go and see Peter and his family. What's more, I was woken up at dawn at his place by the sound of raucous cockatiels - or quarrions, as they are more commonly known in Australia. Yes, I'd not seen a single one since arriving in Australia - yet Peter's garden was swarming with them! There were quite a few sulphur-crested cockatoos too! So, after bidding farewell to the Allens, we pressed on north - and having arrived at Airlie Beach today, I'm now set to embark tomorrow on my first ever scuba dive... at the Great Barrier Reef! Yes, I know - it's a bit like having your first footy match and playing it at Wembley stadium really! Then, the day after my debut scuba, I'm going on a river cruise to see crocs in the wild! If I get eaten, it's been nice knowing you all..! February 06 Get out of the city! And into the sunshine!Well, it's the small hours of the morning as I sit and write this. I was hoping to be sound asleep by now - however, I seem to have fallen foul of a mild bout of insomnia... something not helped by the fact that one of the other guys in the dorm where I'm staying is snoring to such a degree that it actually sounds like wild pigs are rampantly rutting in his bunk!
Oh joy..!
So, I thought I'd take a wander into town, find a 24-hour internet cafe, and scribble down a few thoughts. Specifically, thoughts about Brisbane - as I've been in the city four days now, and not really gone into any detail on this blog as to what it's like and what I've been up to here.
Now Brisbane is Australia's third biggest city... and I must say, I don't think it's really in the same league as the two other metropolises here that I've spent time in (Perth and Melbourne).
That said, I have had a good few days here.
My main reason for wanting to come to Brisbane was because it's within striking distance of Australia Zoo - which was run by Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter' Irwin up until his sad and untimely death last year. And I'm pleased to say that my visit to this mecca of Aussie animals didn't disappoint!
First of all, Steve Irwin and his catchphrases are plastered EVERYWHERE. You couldn't walk more than ten yards without seeing his cheesy grinning face, or reading the word 'Crikey!' on some signage.
And as for the animals - well needless to say there were more crocs than you could shake a brown pole at... as well as loads of lizards and snakes! A lot of the lizards at the zoo are actually 'free range' - i.e. they're allowed to roam free around the zoo... so as you wander around between all the different enclosures, you see them casually sauntering down the footpaths!
One of the highlights of the zoo for me though was actually one of the non-Aussie animals - the elephants, as I actually got to feed one of them!
The kangaroos and wallabies were also pretty cool. They have a massive enclosure at the zoo that you can actually walk into - and the roos come wandering up to you and start sniffing at you!
The best thing overall though about the zoo was simply how obvious their commitment is to not only conservation, but also educating visitors about the fact that, sadly, there are a lot of amazing animals in the world that are endangered due to deforestation and whatnot.
This was brilliantly spelt during the live animal demonstration in the zoo's 'Crocoseum'. This included a flying demonstration by a troupe of trained parrots, which was amazing!
As the parrots flew around, the zoo's main parrot dude explained to the gathered hordes how macaw's are becoming increasingly endangered. At this point, one of the macaws landed on the ground just next to him. "Now, ladies and gentlemen," said parrot dude, "this macaw is going to show you what will happen to all his friends in the wild if people keep cutting down the trees that they live in."
And right on cue, the macaw rolled onto its back and 'played dead' with its feet in the air! Class...
So, that was the zoo. Meanwhile, my time in Brisbane has also seen me experience some prehistoric wildlife!
Yes, at the main entertainment arena here, I caught a show called 'Walking With Dinosaurs Live' - which is based on the 'Walking With Dinosaurs' TV series that was quite big some time back in the UK. Basically, an arena show has been created here in Australia using the real-size model dinosaurs that were used in the TV series - and it was fantastic!
I'm sure this show will make it to the UK at some stage. It lasting about an hour-and-a-half, with a narrator telling the story of dinosaurs from birth to extinction.
The lighting and accompanying music was spot on - and the models were incredibly lifelike. Indeed, there were a lot of families in the audience, and a lot of the young children present were clearing pappering their breeks when the T Rex made its dramatic entrance!
Last but not least, my time in Brisbane has also seen me take in a spot of live cricket - specifically, a one-day international between England and New Zealand!
As most of you will know, I'm not a massive cricket fan - however, with 'our boys' being in town I thought I'd be rude not to go along and lend them a bit of support. And I'm glad I did, as it made for an enjoyable day. There were quite a lot of English folk in attendance, and there was a great atmosphere in the stadium. Though this was soured a bit when the stewards starting confiscating the beach balls that were being liberally thrown around by the barmy army.
Still, in a way it's nice to know that it's not just Britain where where petty killjoys are given the responsibility of keeping law and order at sporting events..!
As for the match itself - well, England actually won! So I can count myself lucky really - I mean, after the recent Ashes debacle, there can't be all that many people who can claim to having seen England win a cricket game down under in recent times.
Oh, and I was also amused to see that you could buy talking Ian Botham dolls at the merchandise stand. Naturally, I was VERY tempted - though as with the talking Steve Irwin dolls available at Australia Zoo, I managed to resist..!
So, that was Brisbane! I say 'was', because I'm actually on the move again first thing tomorrow. After a few days in a big city I'm just itching to get back out in the Aussie backwaters again - so myself and another traveller who I've met here are teaming up and hiring a camper van for a week... and are off on a road trip up the east coast!
It was actually a bit 'touch and go' at one stage as to whether we'd be able to do this... as the area where we're heading suffered massive floods a few days ago. In one town, the water got so high that crocs were sighted swimming down the high street!
Happily though, the flood situation seems to have resolved itself - and so we're off on our adventure first thing in the morning.
Watch this space for more! In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground...Right... for once, this is a blog entry that has nothing whatsoever to do with my travels. No, today, I merely wish to point you in the direction of something that you may find amusing - particularly if, like me, you grew up during the era of the A-Team!
Let me take you back to 1997. At this time, I was doing a Media Studies course at Clarendon College in Nottingham - and one day, our tutors set us a group assignment to help us get to grips with using cameras and editing suites.
"Go out," they informed us, "and film a spoof of a popular TV programme!'
Needless to say, it wasn't long before one of my group made an inspired suggestion - "Let's do our own version of the A-Team!" And so off we went, with a budget of ten quid, a white BA, and my mum's Peugot 306 as the A-Team van!
The resulting film has long since enjoyed legendary status among my circle of friends from when I was at college at the time - and now, we're hoping that our spoof will gain global infamy... as thanks to some technical jiggerypokery, it's now been uploaded to YouTube!
You can view the results by clicking here. Enjoy!
Incidentally, I'm still in touch with most of my fellow 'soldiers of fortune'. Murdoch, like myself, is currently travelling the world... while aforesaid white BA is now the Notts County FC correspondent for the Nottingham Evening Post!!! February 05 Do you realise... that everyone you know... someday... will die? And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, make them realise that life goes fast, it's hard to make the good things last...Now to those of you back in the UK who have been visiting this blog to keep tabs on my gallivanting across Australia, you'll probably be under the impression that I'm having a whale of a time.
And to a large degree, you'd be right.
However, contrary to the impression that this blog gives, it's not all been carefree, wild abandon out here. There have actually been one or two times when I've really missed home - none perhaps more so than when I received a truly sad bit of news from back home last week when I was in Melbourne - namely, the sad death of a great friend of my family.
Many of you reading this will have known John Wells... as him and his wife Andrea, ever the great hosts, have welcomed friends of mine into their home on numerous occasions over the years - usually for some kind of knees-up in 'The Wells Bar' in their cellar!
Over the last few years, John's health hadn't been great - and sadly, he passed away just over a week ago.
Now John and Andrea have always been among my very favourite people in the whole world - and while I had a fair idea of how John's health was failing him, it still came as a massive shock to hear the news. To be honest, my first instinct was simply to pack my bags and get the next plane home - however, with John having done a lot of travelling himself during his younger years when he was at sea, my family convinced me that it be a much more fitting tribute to his memory for me to stay put and continue enjoying seeing the world.
It's strange though being on the other side of the world when you receive a major bit of news that affects you personally. It somehow doesn't feel real - probably because there's no-one here I can share it with that would really understand.
Likewise, the one significant piece of 'good news' that I've had from home since I left for Australia has felt strangely flat.
As some of you will know, deciding to go and travel the world was not the only major decision that I made last year.
In addition, I'd also come to the conclusion that doing media-related work simply wasn't bringing me enough excitement any more - and as such, I duly decided it was time to change career completely and become a primary school teacher!
Now the idea of teaching is a bit of an itch I've had for quite some time - way back since I was around the ages of 18/19/20... a period of my life when I was going out with a girl who was a teacher.
And when you've had an urge to do something for that long... well, I think you simply have to go for it.
As such, I spent a took a week off work back in October and spent some time in a primary school in Nottingham. I loved it... and duly applied to get on a course at Nottingham Trent University.
I ended up going through the interview process just before Christmas - and although I felt I'd done okay, I left for Australia still not knowing whether I'd got a place. And with only one place available for every six applicants shortlisted for interview, I'd already mentally prepared myself for disappointment.
Happily though, this proved not to be necessary - as it was up in Alice Springs when I checked my email to find out I'd been offered a place.
So... come September, I shall be going back to the world of being a student! All very exciting - though as I said, the triumph feels strangely flat.
It has made me all the more determined to make the very most though of these next few months of bumming around the globe - because I have no doubt the new career path I shall be embarking on is going to be VERY hard work..! February 03 Cos we! Are! Your friends! You'll! Never be alone again!Well, I've been on the move again since I last made an entry in this blog!
I did love Melbourne, and had a very enjoyable final night there when I hooked up with Jo and Warwick - daughter and son-in-law respectively of my friend David, who used to be my boss back in the days when I worked at Boots The Chemists.
Jo and Warwick got married last year and have settled in Melbourne - where Warwick is from. And as well as taking me out to dinner at a very cool restaurant, they took me out on a drive around the city to show me some of the sights that I'd otherwise never have known about - including, amusingly, the red light district and its ladyboys!
They also took me on a spin round the roads that are used each year for the Australian Grand Prix!
Much as I enjoyed my time in Melbourne though, I'd always been planning to keep my time there fairly brief, because I have some good friends back home in Nottingham who are actually planning to emigrate there later in the year.
As such, I'd like to hope I'll be heading back to Melbourne to visit them at some point in the future - so after four days, I decided to push on and use my remaining time here to see some other parts of this amazing country.
So... I'm now in Brisbane! And I made the journey here via Greyhound bus!
Yes, I thought they only had Greyhound buses in America. As I discovered though, they have them here in Australia as well - and with them having iconic status amongst traveller types, I thought it was only right to make a journey on one.
So what was the Greyhound experience?
Well, despite getting to see some cool scenery out of the window, long-winded is probably the politest way to describe the journey! Though it doesn't look very far on a map of Australia, Melbourne to Brisbane is actually quite a long way! You could probably drive it in a day - however, with the Greyhound bus constantly stopping to drop off passengers and pick up others, it ended up taking a mammoth 28 hours!
The journey was actually in three parts. First, I got a bus from Melbourne to the town of Albury - and after arriving in Albury, I actually spent a whole 24 hours here... as I have 'friends of friends' who live in the town who had very kindly offered to show me the sights.
Specifically, these lovely people were Belinda and Andrea - who are friends of my mate Charles.
Now a word here about Charles. Some of you who are reading this will know Mr Fox well - but for those of you who don't, he actually went off travelling in late 2005, and has taken to vagabond life so well that he's still 'on the road' to this day! Needless to say, his adventures were a big inspiration to me as I began planning my own trip. What's more, the fact that he has already passed through Australia has been incredibly handy - as he's made various friends here who he's put me in touch with.
Indeed, I've spent quite a bit of time stalking Charles' friends since I got to Australia! Back in Perth I hooked up with Kristy, another pal of his, who was incredibly helpful in filling me in on cool places in the area to visit.
In Melbourne meanwhile, I also hooked up for a very entertaining evening of drunken revellry with Ben - a friend of Charles' from 'back home', who's now living out here after having fallen for an Aussie girl.
So, all good fun - though when you're British and of typical British reserve, I think t's fair to say that it doesn't really come naturally to you to just ring people up who you've never spoken to and go "Oh hi, I'm Rich, you don't know me from Adam... but I'm a mate of Charles. I'm passing through your town - fancy meeting up for a pint?"
However, fair play to the Aussies. They are, without doubt, the friendliest folk in the world - and Belinda and Andrea were no exception. During my brief stop in Albury, they not only showed me all the local sights, but also initiated me in the ways of a major part of Australian culture - yes the Aussie barbeque!
They even bought some shrimps for the occasion, purely so I could utter the immortal words "Hey guys, throw another shrimp on the barbie!"
After the barbeque meanwhile, they also took me out on the piss! We went to see a singer called Sarah Blasko, who was brilliant. We then ended up at a karaoke bar where we witnessed possibly the worst ever rendition of 'You're The Voice' by John Farnham!
So... that was Albury... and after bidding farewell to Belinda and Andrea the next morning, I found myself on another Greyhound bus from there to Sydney.
And then, it was a third bus, travelling overnight, from Sydney to Brisbane.
We did pass through one or two places of interest. On the Albury to Sydney leg of the journey, we stopped in Canberra - Australia's capital city - and also a place called Liverpool!
Sydney to Brisbane meanwhile saw us stop at 'The Big Prawn'!
As you may or may not know, Australia has a mild obsession with 'big things'. They have them dotted around all other the country - indeed, those of you who have checked out the new batch of photos that I added to this site the other day will know that I'm already acquainted with 'The Big Lobster'!
In spite of such diversions though, the coach journey was a bit of a ballache to say the least. In fact, I was so desperately bored at one point that I resorted to drug-induced sleep!
As some of you may know, I'm prone to getting migraines - and because of this, I don't go anywhere without a stash of really strong painkillers that my GP prescribed me, called Amatryptalene.
Anyway - as well as being very effective at taking the edge off a migraine, these badboys have the additional effect of pretty much knocking you out for a good 12 hours!
And with desperate times calling for desperate measures, Amatryptalene seemed to be the only way forward.
As such, I have only vague recollections of the Sydney to Brisbane leg of the trip! Though amusingly, one thing I do recall is that the driver put on a film at one point, starring Paul 'Crocodile Dundee' Hogan!
Anyway - to cut a long story short, the bus finally arrived in Brisbane yesterday. Still haven't really exlored much, but am planning to spend a few days here to see what's what - so watch this space..! |
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