"We haven't got a plan, so nothing can go wrong" - Spike Milligan on TV last night.
Visited Melbourne today, via train for $AU6.70 - approx 3 quid. What a bargain! All day train/tram/bus transport for mot much more than a simple return in the UK on a dilapidated Delaine bus.
There's quite a lot of graffiti in melbourne, and not all of it is that bubble tag spray stuff, theres some pretty good stuff that makes you (well, me) go 'wow' a bit. Its a very arty place, with a strange mix of 80s skyscraping monolithic corporate headquarters, 18th century town houses and super modern artistic buildings made totally from tesselating triangles. Its much more interesting to look at than 95% of UK cities.
I arrived to a downpour, making me feel right at home and reminding me of ill-fated school trips to London in rain. I hid in a small gallery across the River Yarra (which 'flows upside down' on account of it's muddy content) about an Australian music icon Nick Cave, I think. Never heard of the guy, but he seemed to be a typical 80s punk icon who probably would have killed himself through sex, drugs and rock n roll. Either way, his stuff sounded like early Joy Division stuff.
The rains accended, I set about exploring and getting lost in a grid system full of roads called by very similar names. Stumbled upon a Chinatown, as you do, and laughed heartily at the mistranslations on some of the the shop signs.
Bit more window licking and I headed for the Old Melbourne Gaol, where the infamous Ned Kelly was incarcerated and later hung - to death!!! A lot of reading signs in cells, but interesting stuff, none the less. All 134 people hung there had a cast of their heads created after death; their eerie faces looming at you through the cell doors. On closer inspection, most of them had collapsed windpipes. Nice.
Guided tour of an old prison, including 'immersive' experience with you going through the place as a prisoner, which has been left exactly as the day it was decommissioned in 1994, including inventive graffiti and brown stains on holding cell walls. Good stuff, but just talking to an assistant about ghost stories was more interesting.
Going back there tomorrow, I'll hopefully get some pix from the highest place in the city...
PS Its been bloody cold and windy, and I was wearing shorts. And thanks for the replies to these blogs, I hope they're not too long and winding and long, but I keep on thinking of things before I stop writing...
Thursday, 28 February 2008
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
AM/PM
Wow, what a long flight. Don't really know why I'm surprised, its sort of predictable. Watched some good telly vision including a generous dose of family guy, mr bean and that Louis Theroux (sp?) documentary about the mental Christan extremists from the US who hawk dead soldiers for fun, saying everyone's going to hell. Nice people. Attonement, Beowolf, Bourne Supremecy were all watched, too, and I fell to sleep to a live Wolfmother gig (not real live on the plane, that'd be silly). Good stuff! Felt weak after a diet of Oriental Vegetarian food, however, suplemented by Werther's Originals and 'Victiora Bitter' er, bitter.
Stopped off in Hong Kong, or as I call it, Honk Gong. Twas foggy however, so I only managed to glimpse some rather steep, spectacular hills under a thick mist veil on the way out. If I looked really hard, I probably could have seen a man in a conical woven hat waving at me. Sat next to a man who promply went to sleep with his hairy ears, waking only to have a go at the airstuard/ess who dared to offer him a meal. The cheek of it. Had to wake him up, after much tension, to go wee wee. I fared better though, leaving me open to 1/2 an hour of him telling me how the plane could take off with one engine which meant that the 2 engine 747s had a higher power to weight ratio than the 4 engine 747s and how he flew cargo 747s and how all pilots break the rules to get sleep with sleeping pills just like these *shows them to me*. Thanks.
The Oz outback was the only piece of land I really saw before darkness decended, (see pic that I can't figure out how to turn) its INCREDIBLY big, taking us about 4 hours to fly over it. It's incomprehendibly large to mere pommies, so hopefully I'll make it as far north as I would like.
Anyway, 24 hours after bidding the 'rents a lumpy throated good bye, I arrived in Melbourne airport, in Australia! 45 mins of queuing for immigration later (and accidentally ticking the >$AU10,000 Cash box...), I was greeted by my host, Nina.
Thank God (other deities are available) that ozzies drink REAL tea! Big worry, as in the US there was only crappy ice-tea and herbal stuff - Propertea was a specialist, quaint stuff. That sorted, I greeted the dog, called Lucy, like my mum, except an Alsatian (who I have taken to talking to with an Ozzie accent, as if she wouldn't understand me without) and provided a bottle of Jameson's Duty Free to my wonderful hosts; Nina is my mum's cousin and went travelling themselves around Oz when they were 17! Their house is just like one on Neighbours (in the same city, too); an open-plan bungalow with a nice place to chill outside. Before I went to sleep, I was greeted by a wee cockroach, who ran like one of those zombies from 28 Days Later under a cupboard, only to reappear to face the onslaught of a handy bug killing spray. Apparently it only paralysed the bastard, so I think its still twitching in the bin. Serves it right.
Deeeecent night sleep, though writing this my body clock is complaining somewhat.
Went exploring the 'hood in glorious sunshine, bluebird skies, not-too intimidating heats (23 degrees ish), shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops. Its pretty suburban, and full of 4-lane roads, similar to the US. Funny little clicking pedestrian crossings, which click like a dolphin when it is time to cross. Being stung for changing my remaining pounds (there's no pound sign on this anti-pome (read racist) keyboard), I bought a new simcard, which currently ain't working with my phone... Going to try and get it unlocked at some point. Why wouldn't an Oz Virgin Mobile sim work, whereas my UK Virgin Mobile one does?? Grrrrr...
Ozzies still have 'Safeway's supermarkets here, which is crazy. They also have different cartoons on Kellogs Rice Crispies. More observant observations later.
Going for some pizza later with Nina & her sons and Keith, should round off a good 1st day :D
Sorry for the length, but I need to protect against snakes.
Stopped off in Hong Kong, or as I call it, Honk Gong. Twas foggy however, so I only managed to glimpse some rather steep, spectacular hills under a thick mist veil on the way out. If I looked really hard, I probably could have seen a man in a conical woven hat waving at me. Sat next to a man who promply went to sleep with his hairy ears, waking only to have a go at the airstuard/ess who dared to offer him a meal. The cheek of it. Had to wake him up, after much tension, to go wee wee. I fared better though, leaving me open to 1/2 an hour of him telling me how the plane could take off with one engine which meant that the 2 engine 747s had a higher power to weight ratio than the 4 engine 747s and how he flew cargo 747s and how all pilots break the rules to get sleep with sleeping pills just like these *shows them to me*. Thanks.
The Oz outback was the only piece of land I really saw before darkness decended, (see pic that I can't figure out how to turn) its INCREDIBLY big, taking us about 4 hours to fly over it. It's incomprehendibly large to mere pommies, so hopefully I'll make it as far north as I would like.
Anyway, 24 hours after bidding the 'rents a lumpy throated good bye, I arrived in Melbourne airport, in Australia! 45 mins of queuing for immigration later (and accidentally ticking the >$AU10,000 Cash box...), I was greeted by my host, Nina.
Thank God (other deities are available) that ozzies drink REAL tea! Big worry, as in the US there was only crappy ice-tea and herbal stuff - Propertea was a specialist, quaint stuff. That sorted, I greeted the dog, called Lucy, like my mum, except an Alsatian (who I have taken to talking to with an Ozzie accent, as if she wouldn't understand me without) and provided a bottle of Jameson's Duty Free to my wonderful hosts; Nina is my mum's cousin and went travelling themselves around Oz when they were 17! Their house is just like one on Neighbours (in the same city, too); an open-plan bungalow with a nice place to chill outside. Before I went to sleep, I was greeted by a wee cockroach, who ran like one of those zombies from 28 Days Later under a cupboard, only to reappear to face the onslaught of a handy bug killing spray. Apparently it only paralysed the bastard, so I think its still twitching in the bin. Serves it right.
Deeeecent night sleep, though writing this my body clock is complaining somewhat.
Went exploring the 'hood in glorious sunshine, bluebird skies, not-too intimidating heats (23 degrees ish), shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops. Its pretty suburban, and full of 4-lane roads, similar to the US. Funny little clicking pedestrian crossings, which click like a dolphin when it is time to cross. Being stung for changing my remaining pounds (there's no pound sign on this anti-pome (read racist) keyboard), I bought a new simcard, which currently ain't working with my phone... Going to try and get it unlocked at some point. Why wouldn't an Oz Virgin Mobile sim work, whereas my UK Virgin Mobile one does?? Grrrrr...
Ozzies still have 'Safeway's supermarkets here, which is crazy. They also have different cartoons on Kellogs Rice Crispies. More observant observations later.
Going for some pizza later with Nina & her sons and Keith, should round off a good 1st day :D
Sorry for the length, but I need to protect against snakes.
Sunday, 24 February 2008
Still Pre Departure
Cheers boyos for a good send off tonight!
Nice combination of family and friends that you don't usually get.
Can people please pester Marcus to book a ticket to come and join my adventures, because he'll be stung in the bum if he leaves it late as I did.
As for the idea of coming out for the Thailand section of my travels, thats a brilliant idea! Open to all, I'm in Thailand from the 18th July to 12th August. Again, book now to avoid dissapointment (in the form of expensive air travel). STA Travel, Travel Bag and Trailfinders all offer very well priced tickets for under 26s and students.
Up at 5.30am tomorrow, getting a train to heathrow...
Pre departure
Wow, shed loads of organisation in a week; of course I didn't do much before, thats just the way it is for everyone, right?? Visa, Tickets, Insurance, Bank Accounts, Contacts, Backups, Stuff to take, medications, setting up this blog, translations for Thailand (and Oz), references, budgetting, birth certificates and about 3 medium sized trees worth of paper, and I haven't even left yet!!
Getting slightly restless, too many things running round my head. There's also a load of "what ifs" in my psyche, too - what if I run out of money, what if I don't like it, what if people don't like me, what if I have a nut and explode (I'm allergic to some nuts), what if I can't find work.... Of course all of this is irrational thinking - I've made arrangements and plans to fall back on for most of these, and I'm being overly nervous, I just need to get there and get into it. Australia's hardly the back end of all civilisation (however, why aren't there any black people on Neighbours?), and the east coast of australia is THE backpacking route in Oz for simplicity and ease of travel. Apparently. And I'm staying with my mum's cousin and her husband first (1st cousin, once removed or something??), so there's someone to help me get grounded.
I'll miss everyone in Blighty (and my cats), and I hope you'll miss me, however you'll be missing a kick-ass adventure.
See you people in 6 months! I'll be uploading pix and wordz here when I can, so stay tuned..
Getting slightly restless, too many things running round my head. There's also a load of "what ifs" in my psyche, too - what if I run out of money, what if I don't like it, what if people don't like me, what if I have a nut and explode (I'm allergic to some nuts), what if I can't find work.... Of course all of this is irrational thinking - I've made arrangements and plans to fall back on for most of these, and I'm being overly nervous, I just need to get there and get into it. Australia's hardly the back end of all civilisation (however, why aren't there any black people on Neighbours?), and the east coast of australia is THE backpacking route in Oz for simplicity and ease of travel. Apparently. And I'm staying with my mum's cousin and her husband first (1st cousin, once removed or something??), so there's someone to help me get grounded.
I'll miss everyone in Blighty (and my cats), and I hope you'll miss me, however you'll be missing a kick-ass adventure.
See you people in 6 months! I'll be uploading pix and wordz here when I can, so stay tuned..
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