So I left you in suspense of my imminent imprisonment. As most cliff hangers, this will be a disappointment, I'll level with you now.
I travelled from on from the lovely Taupo to Napier and for me the main attraction to going to Napier was you could stay in a disused prison. Not converted, disused. After a brisk walk, well stagger, up the hill to the gates, I was greeted by a rather forboding wooden door complete with authentic buzzer system like you hear in the movies. I was welcomed by a very enthusiastic girl who showed me round- the cells, the shower block (unchanged!), the hanging gallery (now poetically used for hanging the washing up) and I settled into my room. Alas, I wasn't staying in one of the cells, but a rather rickety out house type affair. There I met a poor lost looking fellow who immediately launched into his travel life story about he'd come for a holiday to see a friend he'd not seen in years. They realised on about day 2 of 30 that they didn't actually get on and now she was desparately trying to ditch him at every opportunity. As such she had gone out with another friend for the night and was left alone in the prison.
I felt uncharacteristically sorry for him and decided to be nice. I had planned on going to the museum that evening to the converted theatre to watch an arty film about people smuggling (cheerful stuff as always) and invited him along. He was very enthusiastic and came along only to fall asleep for most of the film. However, he said afterwards he liked what he had seen, so at least he tried. The next day he and his unfriendly friend left very early (8am!) and I never did see him again. Poor fellow.
However, his suffering aside, my day turned out ot be marvellous! It was gloriously sunny and Napier turned out to be even prettier than Taupo. There was a gloroius pebble beach I just sat on for ages, like a herione in a romantic film then I climbed a big hill and took in the view. I went to the local museum which had a fascinating exhibit on the local cemetary and an interesting documentary on the 1931 earthquake. I then returned to the hostel, thinking with the departure of the friendless boy and his friend, I would be alone. But no as I sat myself down in front of the truely massive TV, a quiet slender chap came into the room. With mush persistence, I discovered he had been living in the prsion since Decemeber and was working locally. He was from Chile. We then watched a terrible comedy together that he had rented. And then as suddenly as he came, he left without a goodbye.
The next day I did a wine tour that included a lovely lunch and general sight seeing around the area. It was another gloriously lovely day, the sun shining, birds singing kind of atomsphere. The other people on the tour were pleasent enough, but don't really warrant mentioning. As expected after the fourth and final winery I was well and truely tipsy and on my return to Napier I felt obliged to buy some candy floss and phoned my mother with great gusto and talked more nonsense than ususal. I promise to phone without the influence of alcohol soon mother.
I then went into the TV room, expecting to find my quiet Chilean but instead discovered 2 Dutchies, a kiwi and 3 Brits. I was bit overwhelmed after 3 days of relative solitiute, but being mildly drunk I started talking at an alarming rate and volume. In retrospect, they must of thought I was quite, quite mad. The good thing about travelling is, unless you make a great effort, you generally will never see people again so embarrassment can be avoided long term.
I had to rise early the next day to get the bus to Wellington and to my surprise as I trudged down the hill, I came across the quiet Chilean who was in a car and offered to take me to the bus stop which was a good half hour walk away. I accepted, he apologised about the state of the car and then we drove for 5 minutes in silence before he dropped me off and disappeared before I got to say thank-you. An odd, but I feel ultimately, pleasant fellow, that if I'd had more time, I would have worn him down and eventually, I would have made him my friend.
Anyway, so began the last few days in Wellington. I have done so little, that one day I feared I may actually cease to exist due to my inactivity. I just been walking around, eating bargain cakes from the supermarket (6 lamingtons for 3 dollars!), finding little cinemas- I actually found the best cinema in the world. They have armchairs with little tables, give you home made scones and tea with your ticket (5 dollars cheaper than normal cinemas) and there are no adverts before the feature, just trailers. Fantastic.
But, yes, essentially I been in a wee cocoon of my own making, floating around and being not very productive. Well, I have been organising some America stuff (I'm very anxious about into getting into the country so I want to have all my travel sorted out so I can prove I'm not trying to illegally emigrate), but other than that I have been a very bad tourist. I did go the museum, once. It was nice.
However, I now waffle. Today I'm getting the ferry to Picton and now a frenzy of travelling is to begin. I'm only going to stay in places for 2 nights and then move on so I can see the country and hopefully not fall into the deluge of lethargy again.
Just before I go, I must just say, thank-you Maggie for becoming a follower! I now have 7! Although, Gin and Tonic- you still remain a mystery? Who are you?!
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Thursday, 16 April 2009
They call me Morag Christie!
Okay, so the Maori concert in Rotorua is where I left you dangling in suspense.
It almost left me that way when I arrived and they didn't seem to have my booking. However, they were very kind and fitted me in anyway. But then when I got on the bus they told to get on, I was told it was the wrong bus and my name wasn't on that bus's list. but they were very kind and took me to the concert anyway. I saw lots of Maori dancing around, ate lots of Maori food and generally had a jolly time. As is the small world of the backpacker I ended up sitting next to two girls I'd shared a hostel room with in Auckland. On my return to the buses, I found the correct bus and was promptly asked "are you Marie from Ireland?"
Then all the earlier confusion became clear. Clearly when the receptionist from my hostel phoned to book me she made a slight mistake and of course when I arrived they didn't have a booking for Morag from Scotland.... And so continues the seemly never ending confusion around my name. I am sure I have mentioned the Christie Morag's I've been getting, oh say. constantly. The constant 'oh Christie's your SURNAME' and the occasional 'oh I thought that was a man's name'. Who would have thought when my parents were looking down at my tiny frame just after my birth deciding to name me a slightly old fashioned, but not unusual name, that 25 years later it would dog my entire traveling career.
Anyway, that was the end of Rotorua and I got the bus the next day to Taupo. I don't think I mentioned that when I first arrived in Rotorua I didn't like it for no real reason, well the opposite was true about Taupo a mere hour away by road. A delightful little town in which I instantly found a second hand bookshop which I always take as a good sign. It also helped that my hostel compared the slightly odourous one before was marvellous and clean! I arranged then to do the Tongariro Alpine crossing, a 20km hike between two mountains, one of them being Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings. You can guess now why I was so keen to do it.
I was very fortunate as from the morning of the hike it was clear it was going to be a nice day. A cloudless sky and a warm sun. The two mountains standing proud almost side to side, parting slightly to let us pass to gaze up at the wonderous volanic rock that they were created from.
Yes, it was quite a romantic setting and I got quite carried away. I took about 80 pictures of Mount Doom. I also met a nice Australian lady police detective and we had a great chat about the recent bikie (not biker) war occuring in Sydney presently involving an airport murder.
After 7 hours of hiking I finally arrived at the other end feelign very self satisfied and seemed some how poetic that on my arrival back at the hostel that a couple of people were in the TV room watching The Fellowship of the Ring. I had a wee smile to myself. That evening I had a shower and felt incredibly healthy and fit.
I had already decided not to spent too long in any small town so I would time to see everything on my bus ticket (I'm not sure how long that enthusiasm will last) and that day I was due to go to Napier. However, I had a few hours to kill before my bus left so I wandered around Taupo. I walked along the lake and throught the parks. I sat on a bench and ate lunch. I watched a bird sitting on a tree trunk looking very happy with itself some men planting trees. It was all very picturesque, I didn't want to leave. Now imagine my delught when I arrived in Napier to find it was a small town just as fantastic, except I was later to discover it had 2 second hand bookshops!
Napier is famous for being struck in 1931 by a very nasty earthquake that leveled the town and as such it was rebuilt, but as the fashion of the time was art deco, all the buildings are art deco and any new builds have been been made in that style too. It's a very beautiful cute wee town and as all the buildings are in the same style it feels like it has been lost in time somehow, untouched by modern archiecture. However, there is one place that remained standing after the quake. The decomissioned prison that has been turned into a museum/backpackers. So of course, that is where I decided to stay.
Unfortunately, my time on this computer is almost up and I've ran out of dollar coins. This means I must leave you now hanging in suspense, just make sure you tune in next week for the completion of this fantastic installment of 'Marie and the Napier Prison Blues'!
It almost left me that way when I arrived and they didn't seem to have my booking. However, they were very kind and fitted me in anyway. But then when I got on the bus they told to get on, I was told it was the wrong bus and my name wasn't on that bus's list. but they were very kind and took me to the concert anyway. I saw lots of Maori dancing around, ate lots of Maori food and generally had a jolly time. As is the small world of the backpacker I ended up sitting next to two girls I'd shared a hostel room with in Auckland. On my return to the buses, I found the correct bus and was promptly asked "are you Marie from Ireland?"
Then all the earlier confusion became clear. Clearly when the receptionist from my hostel phoned to book me she made a slight mistake and of course when I arrived they didn't have a booking for Morag from Scotland.... And so continues the seemly never ending confusion around my name. I am sure I have mentioned the Christie Morag's I've been getting, oh say. constantly. The constant 'oh Christie's your SURNAME' and the occasional 'oh I thought that was a man's name'. Who would have thought when my parents were looking down at my tiny frame just after my birth deciding to name me a slightly old fashioned, but not unusual name, that 25 years later it would dog my entire traveling career.
Anyway, that was the end of Rotorua and I got the bus the next day to Taupo. I don't think I mentioned that when I first arrived in Rotorua I didn't like it for no real reason, well the opposite was true about Taupo a mere hour away by road. A delightful little town in which I instantly found a second hand bookshop which I always take as a good sign. It also helped that my hostel compared the slightly odourous one before was marvellous and clean! I arranged then to do the Tongariro Alpine crossing, a 20km hike between two mountains, one of them being Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings. You can guess now why I was so keen to do it.
I was very fortunate as from the morning of the hike it was clear it was going to be a nice day. A cloudless sky and a warm sun. The two mountains standing proud almost side to side, parting slightly to let us pass to gaze up at the wonderous volanic rock that they were created from.
Yes, it was quite a romantic setting and I got quite carried away. I took about 80 pictures of Mount Doom. I also met a nice Australian lady police detective and we had a great chat about the recent bikie (not biker) war occuring in Sydney presently involving an airport murder.
After 7 hours of hiking I finally arrived at the other end feelign very self satisfied and seemed some how poetic that on my arrival back at the hostel that a couple of people were in the TV room watching The Fellowship of the Ring. I had a wee smile to myself. That evening I had a shower and felt incredibly healthy and fit.
I had already decided not to spent too long in any small town so I would time to see everything on my bus ticket (I'm not sure how long that enthusiasm will last) and that day I was due to go to Napier. However, I had a few hours to kill before my bus left so I wandered around Taupo. I walked along the lake and throught the parks. I sat on a bench and ate lunch. I watched a bird sitting on a tree trunk looking very happy with itself some men planting trees. It was all very picturesque, I didn't want to leave. Now imagine my delught when I arrived in Napier to find it was a small town just as fantastic, except I was later to discover it had 2 second hand bookshops!
Napier is famous for being struck in 1931 by a very nasty earthquake that leveled the town and as such it was rebuilt, but as the fashion of the time was art deco, all the buildings are art deco and any new builds have been been made in that style too. It's a very beautiful cute wee town and as all the buildings are in the same style it feels like it has been lost in time somehow, untouched by modern archiecture. However, there is one place that remained standing after the quake. The decomissioned prison that has been turned into a museum/backpackers. So of course, that is where I decided to stay.
Unfortunately, my time on this computer is almost up and I've ran out of dollar coins. This means I must leave you now hanging in suspense, just make sure you tune in next week for the completion of this fantastic installment of 'Marie and the Napier Prison Blues'!
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Smooth Criminal
I am now in New Zealand.
But first, let's return to last night in Oz...
Zac the chef made me a fabulous final meal involving hand made gnocci and then oxtail spagetti. This was accompanied by a fine red wine and good banter. It was such good fun, it left me feeling very melancholy and reluctant to leave Australia altogether. The next morning Maggie and Duncan had travel plans of their own and left before me. So I made my way to the airport on my todd ( I must point out I not once ever in the history of this trip been waved off, most distressing) and on the flight over to Auckland I was quite sullen and withdrawn. I sitting inbetween two people and usually I make polite chat, but I was feeling so blue they never even got a smile. I was thinking to myself that I just couldn't be bothered with NZ, I wished if I could skip it all together and go straight to America.
So not the best of moods. I arrived very late and went straight to bed. However the next morning I awoke with a new vigour and zest for life! The world was joyess! Auckland was, well to be honest, not very pretty, but it was new and exciting and fabulous! I think most of this enthusiaism was due to the fact that right round the corner form my hostel was the Civic theatre and it was showing 'A Winter's Tale' by Sam Mendes starring Ethan Hawke. I wandered in and said 'cheap ticket?' They said 'yes' and my good mood was born. Shakespheare is my cure all. Then I discovered a fantastic bus ticket that would take me all around NZ (well the main places) for a very reasonable price and included some day trips (or so I thought, more on that later).
So this bascially meant NZ was planned. In the bag. Done. And despite not being very organised of late, I do like to be organised. The next couple of days in Auckland were the usual ones that come with entering a new city for me. Walking around parks, getting lost, feeling cold and needing to buy new trousers (hmm maybe not that one), climbing a big hill (Mount Eden- in factadormant volcano), discovering the art gallery was under refurbishment (boo) and going to see a Shakepheare play (very good, odd blend of tragedy and comedy). But all in all I enjoyed my first few days there.
Then I decided to go on the first leg of my bus trip. What I thought was included in my journey was a trip to the Waitomo Caves with Glow-worm boat trip then onward to Rotoroua. I got on the bus early (8am!!!) and got chatting to a mother-daughter combo from the borders. The mother was very over bearing and was one of those women who could have been anything from 50 to 90, but acted like she was 120 and a cripple. Everything was such a tremendous effort (apart from eating clearly as her gut was certainly 'healthy') and she told me all her woes.
On arrival at the caves, I followed the rest of my tour group to the entrance where a woman was checking everyone's tickets. Tickets? I had no ticket. It was done over the phone. Hmmm. It then dawned on my that my bus journy did not include the cave visit. Oops, my bad. I was about to turn around and go back thinking 'Darn it', but prehaps not that polite when the ticket lady screeched "Great Sights Bus trip!" and let my entire bus through and I was swept up in it too. So basically I stole a cave trip. 4 days in NZ and already a thief. I've obviously spent too much time in Australia, clearly their ill gotten ways have infected my good, pure soul.
So I thoroughly enjoyed my glow worm spotting (very pretty tiny lights made up of insect behinds, ahh) and then was taken on to Rotoura. I had trouble booking a hostel and ended up in the 'Blarney Stone'. An Irish themed hostel in New Zealand. Hmm. Mild odour in the dorm room, but a very nice staff so one shouldn't complain (but one does).
Today I went to a polynesian spa and spent about 2 hours enveloped in thermal sulphur water, a bit smelly, but very relaxing. Tonight I'm off to a Maori feast or some such thing. I didn't read the brochure, just asked the hostel girl to book me a Maori evening as that's what you do here in this wee town. So hopefully that will nice and relaxing too, although some how I doubt it- I mean have you seen the All Blacks do the Haka?
But first, let's return to last night in Oz...
Zac the chef made me a fabulous final meal involving hand made gnocci and then oxtail spagetti. This was accompanied by a fine red wine and good banter. It was such good fun, it left me feeling very melancholy and reluctant to leave Australia altogether. The next morning Maggie and Duncan had travel plans of their own and left before me. So I made my way to the airport on my todd ( I must point out I not once ever in the history of this trip been waved off, most distressing) and on the flight over to Auckland I was quite sullen and withdrawn. I sitting inbetween two people and usually I make polite chat, but I was feeling so blue they never even got a smile. I was thinking to myself that I just couldn't be bothered with NZ, I wished if I could skip it all together and go straight to America.
So not the best of moods. I arrived very late and went straight to bed. However the next morning I awoke with a new vigour and zest for life! The world was joyess! Auckland was, well to be honest, not very pretty, but it was new and exciting and fabulous! I think most of this enthusiaism was due to the fact that right round the corner form my hostel was the Civic theatre and it was showing 'A Winter's Tale' by Sam Mendes starring Ethan Hawke. I wandered in and said 'cheap ticket?' They said 'yes' and my good mood was born. Shakespheare is my cure all. Then I discovered a fantastic bus ticket that would take me all around NZ (well the main places) for a very reasonable price and included some day trips (or so I thought, more on that later).
So this bascially meant NZ was planned. In the bag. Done. And despite not being very organised of late, I do like to be organised. The next couple of days in Auckland were the usual ones that come with entering a new city for me. Walking around parks, getting lost, feeling cold and needing to buy new trousers (hmm maybe not that one), climbing a big hill (Mount Eden- in factadormant volcano), discovering the art gallery was under refurbishment (boo) and going to see a Shakepheare play (very good, odd blend of tragedy and comedy). But all in all I enjoyed my first few days there.
Then I decided to go on the first leg of my bus trip. What I thought was included in my journey was a trip to the Waitomo Caves with Glow-worm boat trip then onward to Rotoroua. I got on the bus early (8am!!!) and got chatting to a mother-daughter combo from the borders. The mother was very over bearing and was one of those women who could have been anything from 50 to 90, but acted like she was 120 and a cripple. Everything was such a tremendous effort (apart from eating clearly as her gut was certainly 'healthy') and she told me all her woes.
On arrival at the caves, I followed the rest of my tour group to the entrance where a woman was checking everyone's tickets. Tickets? I had no ticket. It was done over the phone. Hmmm. It then dawned on my that my bus journy did not include the cave visit. Oops, my bad. I was about to turn around and go back thinking 'Darn it', but prehaps not that polite when the ticket lady screeched "Great Sights Bus trip!" and let my entire bus through and I was swept up in it too. So basically I stole a cave trip. 4 days in NZ and already a thief. I've obviously spent too much time in Australia, clearly their ill gotten ways have infected my good, pure soul.
So I thoroughly enjoyed my glow worm spotting (very pretty tiny lights made up of insect behinds, ahh) and then was taken on to Rotoura. I had trouble booking a hostel and ended up in the 'Blarney Stone'. An Irish themed hostel in New Zealand. Hmm. Mild odour in the dorm room, but a very nice staff so one shouldn't complain (but one does).
Today I went to a polynesian spa and spent about 2 hours enveloped in thermal sulphur water, a bit smelly, but very relaxing. Tonight I'm off to a Maori feast or some such thing. I didn't read the brochure, just asked the hostel girl to book me a Maori evening as that's what you do here in this wee town. So hopefully that will nice and relaxing too, although some how I doubt it- I mean have you seen the All Blacks do the Haka?
Sunday, 5 April 2009
Goodbye to Oz
Ah, yes the title is true. Tomorrow I leave Oz to continue my journey to New Zealand. So just how have I spent my last week? Well, settle in and I'll begin.
I think I left off about to go to Fraser Island. Fraser is famous for being entirely made from sand and in fact it's original name was indeed the Big Sandy Island. Imaginative. To get to this mecca of sand, I first had to travel to Rainbow Beach which sounds delightful, but is in fact a small street with an over priced supermarket. Unfortunately, I had made an error with my bus booking and the 12 hour journey overnight on a uncomfortable bus turned into 18 hours. As you can imagine I was not pleased with myself for this error and chastised myself appropriately. On arrival in Rainbow, I was quite exhausted as during my long bus journey not much rest was had, hindered by the bus driver that kept waking the bus up to tell us it was time for a meal break. At 4 am?! Really, seriously, come on.
Fortunately, my afternoon nap followed by an early night did not mean I missed anything due to the small and rather unexciting nature of Rainbow and I arose the next day with a new enthusiasm for exploring and adventure. Now, most people when adventuring on Fraser, do a self drive trip wherein you get out together with ten other tourists and drive around and camp. Yes, camp. On an island entirely made of sand, recently a victim of a cyclone. Not my cup of tea. I like a toilet and a bed and a shower and protection fron evil beasties. So I did a guided tour with about 15 other people and a guide called Petre (NOT Peter). My group was a pleasant crowd and to great delight the average age was about 24 unlike the usual 14 that I had encountered on the rest of my trip down the North East coast. We spent 2 days and 2 nights exploring lakes, sand dunes, Scottish ship wrecks (really its called the Maheno, you can google it) and generally having a jolly time. Unfortunately, on the last night one of the girls in my dorm developed a gastroenteritis. Filled with fear, I refused to use the same facilities and became over whelmed with concern that I would be stricken with this on the bus journey to Brisbane the next day. This was not helped by on the parting of the group, the same girl methodically hugged and kissed (yes kissed!! Health and safety people!) everyone, one by one. I made a swift exit across the road, waving goodbye, safe from the transmission of vomit inducing mircorobes.
That evening was spent back in the very small Rainbow Beach so not much excitment was had although I did educate a German on the the language and culture of Gaelic. The next day I travelled back to Brisbane to the hotel of Maggie and Duncan and found myself joined by another guest, Zac the chef, who is trying very hard to get a new visa, but not managing very well. The last few days have as been the usual joyful, fun filled, civilised dinner party days that seem to be customary in the hotel of Maggie and Duncan. I have eaten much fine food, drank some fine wines and even made a salad and baked cakes!!! Morag the chef should now be my name. I also managed to catch up with Amanda, the lovely Tasmania trip travel agent and Luke, the delightful Berlin trip town planner and by lovely coincidence actually ended up in the in a night club dancing ridiculously with both of them.
So now my last day in Oz is upon me. I'm sitting typing this whilst Zac and Duncan are doing the crossword and newspaper quiz from yesterday's paper in a very civilised manner. Later I will post a large package home to my mother of excess belongings that have somehow appeared and will no longer fit in my rucksack. Then tomorrow, I will put my bag on my back and again travel to the airport to start a new journey.
And of course as seems to be the way with me these days, I haven't organised a damn thing!
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Spelling
I need to apologise profoundly for the spelling errors in that last blog. Ordinarily, after I've typed an entry I go through it and correct my errors. However, as I mentioned there was a rather long queue and I didn't have time. I have gone back and corrected the mistakes now so hopefully it will make some kind of sense.
I had one more day in Airlie before moving on and I used this to go to the book exchange (I have just finished Donna Taart's- a Secret History. I got it because it was cheap and it turned out to be marvellous) and laze by the town lagoon - an outside picturesque swimming pool created, I think, to prevent silly tourists jumping in the unsafe sea. I met up with Judy and the other Kendal 2 and we all had dinner together before an uncharacteristic early night for them all as they were getting boats early the next day.
I then went to Mackay, 2 hours south of Airlie. Now this is not really a backpacker destination and as such I could only get a motel not a hostel. This was delightful luxury. It's amazing when you've been roughing it (ooh it's been almost 3 weeks since being at Maggie's with my own room- practically a lifetime!) that having a double bed, en suite and TV can do for the morale. After a stroll around town, I got a take away which I ate at my little table with a cool bottle of cider watching the news. Fantastic.
The next day, I did more exploring as you see this was not just a holiday visit, it was recon. Anthony and Cat, 2 friends from uni are moving here in August to work at the local hospital after being lured by another uni friend (Matt) who already works here. There are several nice things in Mackay. Little cafes, an adequate shopping centre, 2 cinemas (neither arthouse), a free art museum, a book exchange and apparently botanical gardens (I couldn't find them). There is also a nice marina by all accounts, but I didn't have time to see it. Well, that's a lie actually, I just couldn't be bothered with the faff of getting the bus. I am a terrible tourist. One thing I noticed though is that not only is Mackay very flat, but it is a very anti-pedestrian place. The reason the bus was a faff was because I couldn't find a bus stop. And half the streets don't have pavements. Anthony and Cat- buy a car.
That evening I went to see the afore-mentioned Matt and met his lovely wife, Lucy (who I thought was called Marion for some unknown reason) for the first time. Getting to their place was slightly precarious as I have mentioned the lack of pavements and as such I had to walk either on the poorly lit road or on grass embankments. I abandoned the grass walking after a large rat ran up to my foot, stopped, looked at me and ran away. Fortunately, after a nice catch up and feed, Lucy offered to drive me home so return journey advetures were avoided.
The next day I had to catch an overnight bus and so I spent the day uncomfortably. I prefer to awake and then jump on transport, not hang about , but the evening bus was the only option. I did very little as I couldn't settle. Fortunately, I had got another very good book (Marcus Zusak's The Messenger- an earlier work to his critically acclaimed the Book Thief, which I have also read) so this was a comfort and helped toil away the hours. I then got the bus, the first leg of the journey taking 13 hours, followed by a gap of 2 hours then a final 1.5 leg before arriving in Rainbow Beach, where I am now. I did not smell good on arrivial and very quickly had a shower then went for a wander aroud town. This is a lie. There is no town. I found a small cul de sac of shops and a shell garage. Oh well, it's only for a night before I go on my Fraser Island trip.
Right that's me, I better go spell check this now...
I had one more day in Airlie before moving on and I used this to go to the book exchange (I have just finished Donna Taart's- a Secret History. I got it because it was cheap and it turned out to be marvellous) and laze by the town lagoon - an outside picturesque swimming pool created, I think, to prevent silly tourists jumping in the unsafe sea. I met up with Judy and the other Kendal 2 and we all had dinner together before an uncharacteristic early night for them all as they were getting boats early the next day.
I then went to Mackay, 2 hours south of Airlie. Now this is not really a backpacker destination and as such I could only get a motel not a hostel. This was delightful luxury. It's amazing when you've been roughing it (ooh it's been almost 3 weeks since being at Maggie's with my own room- practically a lifetime!) that having a double bed, en suite and TV can do for the morale. After a stroll around town, I got a take away which I ate at my little table with a cool bottle of cider watching the news. Fantastic.
The next day, I did more exploring as you see this was not just a holiday visit, it was recon. Anthony and Cat, 2 friends from uni are moving here in August to work at the local hospital after being lured by another uni friend (Matt) who already works here. There are several nice things in Mackay. Little cafes, an adequate shopping centre, 2 cinemas (neither arthouse), a free art museum, a book exchange and apparently botanical gardens (I couldn't find them). There is also a nice marina by all accounts, but I didn't have time to see it. Well, that's a lie actually, I just couldn't be bothered with the faff of getting the bus. I am a terrible tourist. One thing I noticed though is that not only is Mackay very flat, but it is a very anti-pedestrian place. The reason the bus was a faff was because I couldn't find a bus stop. And half the streets don't have pavements. Anthony and Cat- buy a car.
That evening I went to see the afore-mentioned Matt and met his lovely wife, Lucy (who I thought was called Marion for some unknown reason) for the first time. Getting to their place was slightly precarious as I have mentioned the lack of pavements and as such I had to walk either on the poorly lit road or on grass embankments. I abandoned the grass walking after a large rat ran up to my foot, stopped, looked at me and ran away. Fortunately, after a nice catch up and feed, Lucy offered to drive me home so return journey advetures were avoided.
The next day I had to catch an overnight bus and so I spent the day uncomfortably. I prefer to awake and then jump on transport, not hang about , but the evening bus was the only option. I did very little as I couldn't settle. Fortunately, I had got another very good book (Marcus Zusak's The Messenger- an earlier work to his critically acclaimed the Book Thief, which I have also read) so this was a comfort and helped toil away the hours. I then got the bus, the first leg of the journey taking 13 hours, followed by a gap of 2 hours then a final 1.5 leg before arriving in Rainbow Beach, where I am now. I did not smell good on arrivial and very quickly had a shower then went for a wander aroud town. This is a lie. There is no town. I found a small cul de sac of shops and a shell garage. Oh well, it's only for a night before I go on my Fraser Island trip.
Right that's me, I better go spell check this now...
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Speed
Dear, I'm terribly sorry, I have been so remiss in writing this and my last entry was a tad luck lustre. For these things I apologise and will now explain.
As I mentioned before I met 3 very nice Kendal dwellers and a terribly young 18 year old girl on an overnight trip to the rainforest that I then went on to inbibe several alcoholic beverages with.
Well, the following days were spent primarily with one of these mint cake eaters, a girl who seemly has limitless energy and a very high alcohol tolerence. I will call her Judy. As we were both travelling South on the greyhound (a cheap bus service) we decided to go together and the night before we left Cairns we went to friend of hers house to swim in his pool. This quiet night morphed into a wine from a bag drinking frenzy (they call it a goon bag for future reference) causing a panicked bag packing and very uncomfortable bus journey to Magnetic Island the next day.
Now Magnetic Island on the brochures is a delightful place full of amazing activites and jolly times. Now the reality is slightly different. The hostel we stayed was beach front, although due to the time of year, giant stingrays and jelly fish are present and you cannot swim in the sea in safety. The rooms in this place were little shacks with very shoddy craftsmanship and multiple portals for nasty beasties to enter into and were complete ovens at night. The first day was spent somewhat pleasently. I nursed my hangover and lay by the pool. That evening was Paddy's day and the bar at the hostel put green food dye into all the drinks. This sounds interesting, but trust me by the end of an evening, a hundred drunken teens with green tongues was not amusing especially as I was still nursing my poor head. The next day was miserable weather, I tried to book a horse riding trip in spite of this, but when I turned up they said they had not been told about me (I'm sure the girl I spoke to on the phone was the one that turned me away - very suspect) and I couldn't go. As there was nothing to do in the evenings, again the hostel bar was our destination and even more alcohol was consumed, but not by me.
The next day we were joined by the very young 18 year old and hired a small car to go round the island. The island has one road and is only 10 kms long. The car didn't go far. Still we had a jolly time and had a BBQ by the beach. That evening it was destination bar again. I reminded them both politely that we had an early start to get the bus to Airlie beach the next day. They assured me that they would be ready in time and then at half 5 in the evening cracked into a 4 litre goon bag and proceeded to drink most it. The young girl was put to bed with a bucket by me at approximately half past 9 and Judy had to be located the next morning and hurried out of the hostel to catch the ferry (to get the bus you see, it was an island).
However, we did make it, but by this stage I was getting a tad weary of the near constant alcohol abuse and when we arrived in Airlie beach I selected a hostel a bit out of town and for the last few days have been revelling in a dry atmosphere eating lots of chocolate. Don't get me wrong both girls are delightful, but I can't hack the pace and neither could my liver.
Airlie beach in my opinion is very similar to Magnetic Island in the sense the only after hours activity appears to destroying ones brain cells and as such my slightly out of town hostel has been a god send. Fortunately it differs in the fact that there are good things to do during the day and it's larger than 10 km squared. Unfortunately, due to a mild illness (don't worry I am fine) I had to spend the vast majority of my first day waiting to see a GP to get a prescription, the total of my 2 minute consultation and drugs coming to over 100 dollars (God love the NHS, I will never take it for granted again). This meant that buy the time I went to try and get a boat trip, I couldn't get the one that I wanted and the others available didn't suit my plans. Instead I had to opt for a day trip.
Now at first I was very disappointed by this. The whole point of coming to Airlie beach is to sail the Whit Sunday Islands and spend a night on a boat. However, my day trip turned out be fantastic. Now when I booked my day trip, I knew there was beach walks and snorkling involved. What I failed to realise was it was a speed boat. Yes, indeed. I looked over the jetty and thought dear lord what have I done!? The 3 crew were 3 completely delightful young men who proceeded to circum-navigate almost all the islands in a break neck fashion, but still stopped long enugh to have lunch on a beach, walk the beaches and snorkle some very nice reef. So it may have been short, but I thoroughly enjoyed my day, saw all the islands and saved about 200 dollars (well that's how I see it).
I must go as there are many people waiting for this one computer, but that's me practically up to date. Just remember, love the NHS.
As I mentioned before I met 3 very nice Kendal dwellers and a terribly young 18 year old girl on an overnight trip to the rainforest that I then went on to inbibe several alcoholic beverages with.
Well, the following days were spent primarily with one of these mint cake eaters, a girl who seemly has limitless energy and a very high alcohol tolerence. I will call her Judy. As we were both travelling South on the greyhound (a cheap bus service) we decided to go together and the night before we left Cairns we went to friend of hers house to swim in his pool. This quiet night morphed into a wine from a bag drinking frenzy (they call it a goon bag for future reference) causing a panicked bag packing and very uncomfortable bus journey to Magnetic Island the next day.
Now Magnetic Island on the brochures is a delightful place full of amazing activites and jolly times. Now the reality is slightly different. The hostel we stayed was beach front, although due to the time of year, giant stingrays and jelly fish are present and you cannot swim in the sea in safety. The rooms in this place were little shacks with very shoddy craftsmanship and multiple portals for nasty beasties to enter into and were complete ovens at night. The first day was spent somewhat pleasently. I nursed my hangover and lay by the pool. That evening was Paddy's day and the bar at the hostel put green food dye into all the drinks. This sounds interesting, but trust me by the end of an evening, a hundred drunken teens with green tongues was not amusing especially as I was still nursing my poor head. The next day was miserable weather, I tried to book a horse riding trip in spite of this, but when I turned up they said they had not been told about me (I'm sure the girl I spoke to on the phone was the one that turned me away - very suspect) and I couldn't go. As there was nothing to do in the evenings, again the hostel bar was our destination and even more alcohol was consumed, but not by me.
The next day we were joined by the very young 18 year old and hired a small car to go round the island. The island has one road and is only 10 kms long. The car didn't go far. Still we had a jolly time and had a BBQ by the beach. That evening it was destination bar again. I reminded them both politely that we had an early start to get the bus to Airlie beach the next day. They assured me that they would be ready in time and then at half 5 in the evening cracked into a 4 litre goon bag and proceeded to drink most it. The young girl was put to bed with a bucket by me at approximately half past 9 and Judy had to be located the next morning and hurried out of the hostel to catch the ferry (to get the bus you see, it was an island).
However, we did make it, but by this stage I was getting a tad weary of the near constant alcohol abuse and when we arrived in Airlie beach I selected a hostel a bit out of town and for the last few days have been revelling in a dry atmosphere eating lots of chocolate. Don't get me wrong both girls are delightful, but I can't hack the pace and neither could my liver.
Airlie beach in my opinion is very similar to Magnetic Island in the sense the only after hours activity appears to destroying ones brain cells and as such my slightly out of town hostel has been a god send. Fortunately it differs in the fact that there are good things to do during the day and it's larger than 10 km squared. Unfortunately, due to a mild illness (don't worry I am fine) I had to spend the vast majority of my first day waiting to see a GP to get a prescription, the total of my 2 minute consultation and drugs coming to over 100 dollars (God love the NHS, I will never take it for granted again). This meant that buy the time I went to try and get a boat trip, I couldn't get the one that I wanted and the others available didn't suit my plans. Instead I had to opt for a day trip.
Now at first I was very disappointed by this. The whole point of coming to Airlie beach is to sail the Whit Sunday Islands and spend a night on a boat. However, my day trip turned out be fantastic. Now when I booked my day trip, I knew there was beach walks and snorkling involved. What I failed to realise was it was a speed boat. Yes, indeed. I looked over the jetty and thought dear lord what have I done!? The 3 crew were 3 completely delightful young men who proceeded to circum-navigate almost all the islands in a break neck fashion, but still stopped long enugh to have lunch on a beach, walk the beaches and snorkle some very nice reef. So it may have been short, but I thoroughly enjoyed my day, saw all the islands and saved about 200 dollars (well that's how I see it).
I must go as there are many people waiting for this one computer, but that's me practically up to date. Just remember, love the NHS.
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Sun and Sea (sickness)
So after a delightful stay at Maggie's and a catch up with my travel agent friend, I headed off to Cairns which is the tropical part of Oz. Again my amazing timing (see my Melbourne dates and the bush fires there) meant that I had just missed a cyclone, amusingly called Cyclone Hamish, a couple of days before I headed north.
For once I was mildy organised and had booked a couple of things before I arrived. Unfortunately, despite requesting a female only dorm at my hostel, I was once again put in a mixed dorm and was called Christie when I arrived at reception. My name is MORAG and I am NOT a man! Anyway, it is a fairly nice hostel so I bear it.
On my first full day here, I went on a very large boat out to the barrier reef to snorkle and visit the fishes. Alas, my stomach was left behind on the boardwalk so the journey was not entirely pleasurable. I did end up chatting to a very forth right Dutch woman who was very sympathetic. Snorkling was very fun and saw many pretty fish and a couple of huge fish which I was concerned about eating me, but fortunately all my fingers are intact.
The next day I went on a 2 day trip to the rainforest and day one was a hive of activity with swimming in a watering hole, visiting a wild life sanctuary, going on a crocodile river cruise (only 2 small ones seen), visiting an ice cream factory (surprisingly disappointing) and having half a cow hamburger for lunch.
However, after the day was over, myself and a few others were left at a hostel literally in the middle of the jungle that had shacks for rooms and one shop that didn't have carrier bags. We learned despite being next to the sea, we couldn't swim in it due to it being stinger season and potential death. So we made the best of it by playing a drinking game, twister and then a limbo competition which I was pitiful at.
The next day me and my new friends (2 girls and a guy from kendal, a very young girl- 18! from South Hampton and a hard work ITU nurse from London) explored the Daintree rainforest, went to the beach and looked longingly at the sea. Fortunately, we had heard of a water hole that was safe from crocs and stingers and made or way there. Alas, it was difficult to get to and from on traversing the river on our exit, my flip flop got washed off my foot! Now i had left most of my stuff at Maggie's for this 3 weeks NE exploration and I only had this pair of flip flops or my walking boots with me. I would not lose it! So I threw off my back pack and leapt into the river . I reached, I clung- the flip flop was saved! Now I hope you are imagining a graceful rescue, because that's what I also saw. Prehaps my fellow travellers may not share this image, but they are not telling the story now are they?
So after that adrenaline rush, we got picked up and taken back to Cairns. My new Kendal friends (no mint cake jokes please) and I went out that evening and maybe inbibed a few too many fine ales to calm my nerves resulting in a very lazy day yesterday consisting of laying by the free outdoor pool and recovering.
I feel almost recovered now, thank goodness and my flip flops are staying firmly on my feet.
For once I was mildy organised and had booked a couple of things before I arrived. Unfortunately, despite requesting a female only dorm at my hostel, I was once again put in a mixed dorm and was called Christie when I arrived at reception. My name is MORAG and I am NOT a man! Anyway, it is a fairly nice hostel so I bear it.
On my first full day here, I went on a very large boat out to the barrier reef to snorkle and visit the fishes. Alas, my stomach was left behind on the boardwalk so the journey was not entirely pleasurable. I did end up chatting to a very forth right Dutch woman who was very sympathetic. Snorkling was very fun and saw many pretty fish and a couple of huge fish which I was concerned about eating me, but fortunately all my fingers are intact.
The next day I went on a 2 day trip to the rainforest and day one was a hive of activity with swimming in a watering hole, visiting a wild life sanctuary, going on a crocodile river cruise (only 2 small ones seen), visiting an ice cream factory (surprisingly disappointing) and having half a cow hamburger for lunch.
However, after the day was over, myself and a few others were left at a hostel literally in the middle of the jungle that had shacks for rooms and one shop that didn't have carrier bags. We learned despite being next to the sea, we couldn't swim in it due to it being stinger season and potential death. So we made the best of it by playing a drinking game, twister and then a limbo competition which I was pitiful at.
The next day me and my new friends (2 girls and a guy from kendal, a very young girl- 18! from South Hampton and a hard work ITU nurse from London) explored the Daintree rainforest, went to the beach and looked longingly at the sea. Fortunately, we had heard of a water hole that was safe from crocs and stingers and made or way there. Alas, it was difficult to get to and from on traversing the river on our exit, my flip flop got washed off my foot! Now i had left most of my stuff at Maggie's for this 3 weeks NE exploration and I only had this pair of flip flops or my walking boots with me. I would not lose it! So I threw off my back pack and leapt into the river . I reached, I clung- the flip flop was saved! Now I hope you are imagining a graceful rescue, because that's what I also saw. Prehaps my fellow travellers may not share this image, but they are not telling the story now are they?
So after that adrenaline rush, we got picked up and taken back to Cairns. My new Kendal friends (no mint cake jokes please) and I went out that evening and maybe inbibed a few too many fine ales to calm my nerves resulting in a very lazy day yesterday consisting of laying by the free outdoor pool and recovering.
I feel almost recovered now, thank goodness and my flip flops are staying firmly on my feet.
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