I have travelled over 2,500miles during January, covered 2 states, stayed in 8 hostels and 2 houses and experienced temperatures up to 41 degrees.
I have also started a journal by hand, which is a lot more detailed than this blog, I'm sure you will all enjoy reading it when I eventually make it home.
As for where I have been this month, here is a little summary:
Cairns - 2nd January to 9th January.
OZ Experience Coach trip from Cairns to Sydney - 9th January to 20th January.
Sydney - 20th January to present.
In this blog I aim to inform you of the highlights of the trip so far. So here we go....
CAIRNS
I stayed with Dan, a mate from uni and his fiance for a week at the beginning of the month. I spent lots of time visiting the lagoon on the ocean front. Swimming in the ocean was not possible due to the stinger season, plus the beach is inhabited by crocodiles in Cairns!! The temperature in Cairns was constantly high, but very humid with it. this meant feeling like a constant sticky mess! We went out for a special dinner where we ate great food and enjoyed an aboriginal show, showing us how they used to live, work and play. It was great to catch up with Dan, and I will be visiting Cairns again in June 2010 for the marriage! Looking forward to it! :)
OZ EXPERIENCE
I chose to move away from the idea of fruit picking. I decided that I didn't need to stay in Australia for more than one year. There is so much more of the world to see and I reckon I can see all of Australia I want to see within the one year. With this decision made, I made plans for Sydney where I would try and find work. When planning how to get there I decided to visit the Whitsunday Islands and take a sailing trip. The best way of combining that and transport to Sydney, advised by Flora, was to go on OZ Experience. The service allowed you to chose where to stop, how long to stay in a certain place for and gave the opportunity to meet other backpackers on the way.
The plan was to stop at Magnetic Island, Airlie Beach (Whitsunday sailing
trip), Rainbow Beach (Fraser Island trip), Byron Bay and Sydney. However, this all changed due to the cancellation of my sailing trip. I have that and the Fraser Island trip on hold and I intend heading back up the coast in June to do those. This change of plan meant that from Airlie Beach I headed straight for Sydney, flying through the stops on the way. Despite the complications, lots happened, here are just some of the highlights...
Crocodile farm, check out the pictures... awesome animals but very dangerous!
Hostel on the beach on Magnetic Island
The rain poured down on Airlie Beach while I was there, but we enjoyed the night life!
Even though my sailing trip was can
celled, the weather was terrible due to it being wet season and the cyclone present in the area. I look forward to better weather when I return!
Visited a Cattle station and enjoyed goat meat, and a beef roast, rode a mechanical bull and learnt about the cattle industry.
Visited some beautiful beaches, though only saw them last th
ing in the evening and first thing in the morning between bus journeys.
Went to SURF CAMP!!! I loved this part of the trip, we had a 2 hour lesson and within that time I managed to stand on my board many times, I can't wait to get to the
beach again and try it out once more!
SYDNEY
Arrival into Sydney was 10 days earlier than planned, but this was to be my home for the next 5 months. The new plan to stay here until June, heading back up the coast for a short trip before flying to America for camp. On arrival in Sydney, the job hunt began. I stayed with another friend from uni, Paula in Bondi for the first few days before moving to a hostel in the city. I spent many hours in the apple store (where this blog will is beginning posted from) as they supply free internet, which I intend taking full advantage of until they throw me out! The hours were spent job hunting. I must have applied to almost 100 jobs since arriving and not many of them reply. I had an offer for a new restaurant opening in Bondi, Bondi Pizza. At the end of January, I was waiting for a call with information on training and opening dates. So check out next month for news on a job...
I visited Hillsong in Sydney and decided to join the church and go to the services weekly. It is a huge venue and the worship session is almost like a concert. The teaching is also very good with very passionate speakers!
The 26th January was AUSTRALIA DAY, and we celebrated it in style! Two people I met on my way down the coast were in Sydney for this day, Rachel and Sarah. We headed out at 11am and did not return home until 2am. We carried a bag of goon (box wine) around in a backpack and drank it throughout the day. We attended various events in Hyde Park and at the Rocks. Bollywood dancing, rock music and we even saw Alvin and the Chipmunks! The rain started to pour down on Sydney at about 4pm, but we continued to party, dancing and even enjoying a BBQ in the rain! We were equipped with many flags! Flags on sticks, flag tattoos on our faces, a flag towel and my flag shorts! It was a great day!!
IN OTHER NEWS
My US visa was granted which means I will definitely be attending camp and getting paid this year!
I'm sure there is so much more I have not told you about this month, but you can check out the journal for more! This month was very eventful and I can't promise that next month will be as exciting, but hopefully, if I have a job, there will be some tales to pass on.
An update on the future....
February - June in Sydney
June - a short trip back up the coast
June - September at camp
September - October back in Australia travelling around the rest of the country (plus Kim's wedding)
October - March working in Canada
March - ? Travelling through New Zealand and Asia on route to the UK.
These plans are subject to change but check in next month when the plans could completely change!
Please visit the following links for photos of this month, there are lots of photos that will hopefully make sense after reading this blog!
ENJOY, and remember to check out next month!
No comments:
Post a Comment