DAY 50!

As the title of this post might suggest, it is day 50 of our adventure around the world... and we have split up.

For the next few weeks I am without the other half of my evil duo. Linda has stayed in Sydney in the hopes of getting a job and an apartment and I am jetting off to Cairns to begin a tour down the East Coast. Do not fret though, the evil twins will be reunited around Christmas and New Year :-)

For now though I am just looking forward to all the amazing things the East Coast has to offer, and hoping that my plane, now an hour late, does eventually arrive to take me there.

Day 45 to 49 - Sydney, OZ INTRO

I have now come to the end of the oz intro week and it has been FANTASTIC! I never thought I would get so attached to people I have only known for 7 days but I have met such amazing people and am really sad to leave them.

Since my last post we have had another talk at the office, this time about travelling around Oz. We have also been to the Zoo, the Blue Mountains, on a party bus, had dinner in the Sydney Sky restaurant, and spent a day on Bondi beach. The talk about travel plans got me soooo excited about all the things I could do and see that I imediately decided I want to travel first and get a job when I absolutely have to because I am running out of money. There were quite a few other people with the same idea so we are probably going to be travelling together for most of it :-) . The zoo trip in the afternoon was good fun, however seeing animals in cages in Sydney doesn't really compare to getting in the cages with them in Perth. That night was then early to bed as we had an early rise the next day. 7am we left for the Blue Mountains. Sadly it rained all day so rather than "Blue" we saw grey, and rather than "Mountains" we saw fog. We did however get to see the amazing waterfalls in all their glory, and at the end of the day we took the rail track back up the 52° slope to the top.

Once the weekend hit it was time to finalise any plans we had for the rest of our Oz adventure and just do our own thing. The evenings however were still organised for us. Saturday night we jumped on the party bus for 5 bars and 5 free drinks, where myself and another girl in the group won more prizes :-) Now I have 3 days free camper van hire to use whenever I like. Then on Sunday it was time to hit Bondi beach before having an amazing all you can eat buffet at the top of the Westfield building in the revolving restaurant.

Now all that's left for me is to print my trip confirmations and pack for my flight to Cairns in the morning.

Day 42/43/44 - Sydney, OZ INTRO

The flight from Perth to Sydney was not too long but it was in the middle of the night and rather uncomfortable so sleeping was limited. As it turns out though, this is not a problem when you have booked a week with OzIntro because its so much fun you don't have time to feel tired.

The OzIntro team picked me up from the airport, took me to my hostel, and then when everyone had arrived they took us out in the afternoon for a quick tour of Sydney. We have two guys as group leaders and they are amazing! Everyone in our group is also great and we all got along instantly. The walk in the afternoon took us to Circular Quay, the Sydney Opera House, and through the Botanical gardens. In the gardens the guys pulled out some pringles which we originally thought was a little odd and wondered if they were just planning on giving us snacks. We quickly learnt however they were to feed the birds that would land on your arm... or if you're special like me they land on top of your head! From there we went to take a ride on a jet boat and got soaked. When the driver told us we wouldn't like him by the end of the trip he wasn't joking. It was freezing cold and every time you managed to wipe the water out your eyes he would spin the boat and soak you all over again. Needless to say when we finally got back to the hostel there were queues to get to the showers. Once we were all warmed up though we met back with the group for dinner and drinks in the bar next door, Scary Canarys. It was a brilliant night. The drinks here are not that cheap but, when the bar man decides he likes you and wants to give you one free bucket of snakebite instead of charging you for two glasses, it really doesn't matter.

The next day was straight down to business. The morning was spent in the OzIntro office talking about working in Australia and the best options for us, followed by a trip to set up our bank accounts and medical care. OzIntro are fantastic at helping you get everything sorted for your trip :-) . After lunch on Darling harbour we headed off to the Aquarium to see all the pretty and scary creatures waiting for us out in the Sea. A lovely trip, but when you know you're going surfing the next day seeing sharks and sea snakes can be a little unnerving :-\ . The evening was then our first proper night out to get to know everyone. Before leaving we bought some goon (in oz thats just cheap wine in a box) and bonded over some drinking games. A popular clubbing area in Sydney is Kings Cross and there we went to Trademark, where, in an inpromptue dancing competition, I won a 3 day safari across Fraser Island :-) Sweeeeet!

The next morning I was not so happy. Turns out goon gives you a reaaaaaly bad hangover. I also discovered however that surfing is an amazing cure for said hangover. We were taken to a private beach for my first ever surf lesson. It was freezing cold, pouring with rain, and really windy... but I loved it! I even managed to stand up :-) ... just once, and then I fell off sideways, flipped my board and got smacked in the head... BUT I still stood up so it was fantastic. I would definitely try surfing again. As well as being amazing fun it was also very tiring so for dinner we've decided to head down to China town as we're all too exhausted to cook for ourselves... it's a hard life.

Day 39/40/41 - Perth, WA

Well, Perth was... nice.

Actually Perth was lovely... if you can afford it. On a travelers budget there isn't really a lot you can do so a few days is enough to just take in the scenery and have a few trips around on the train.

So the first morning I awoke in Perth and forgot where I was. Clever. I could see no sign of Linda in my room and it took me a few moments to remember I had left her in Singapore :( but then I remembered I was in Perth :) and had a friend arriving in about half an hour so I actually had to get out of bed and get a move on...

The first hour or so was just spent going through all the pictures I have taken so far on my adventure. Then we headed of to Caversham Wildlife park where I got to stroke Koalas and Kangaroos - and rabbits, but I doubt anyone else will find that as thrilling as I did. On the way out of the park we managed to hitch a ride back to the bus stop with some crazy Aussie bloke... though if I'm being honest it was more like being kidnapped and luckily arriving at the bus stop we needed. Back in the centre of Perth I had my first Kanga Banga :) and then found some random maze made of cellotape and ripped up newspaper :/ It was a little odd.

In the evening we hit the main clubbing road and Oh My Goodness! It is expensive in Perth. Too expensive. Buy a cheap bottle from a shop and drink before you go out... just don't drink so much you end up swimming in a fountain, in the middle of the night, in front of a load of apartment blocks :/

The second day was then spent recovering, before heading to Fremantle. It's only a short train ride away and it's beautiful. I noticed quite a few backpacker hostels so it's possible there are cheaper places to eat and drink here but I didn't have time to find out. Instead we walked to "Essex Street" where I got over excited, and then took a tour of the tunnels underneath the prison. They were amazing and the guide was craaaazy. Also, to be allowed in you have to do a breathalyser test and if you fail you don't get your money back... I can tell you now it's rather embarrassing to have to ask at 2 in the afternoon if you can do the test before you pay because you're not sure all the alcohol from the night before is out of your system. We then watched the sun set from the beach and it was beautiful... cold and windy, but really beautiful. Another night of cheap wine and some midnight sightseeing from Kings Park and my Perth adventure was nearly over.

Another hangover later we strolled on down to Subiaco. It's a cute little town with nice markets, quirky streets and statues. A good place to go for a chilled out day. Later in the evening, after some really good cheap steak, I left hot, sunny, Perth for cold, wet, Sydney.

Day 37/38 - Singapore

The flight to Singapore was rather uncomfortable and neither of us got much sleep. So when we finally got to bed around 3am we were well and truly exhausted.

We stayed in the Five Stones Hostel in the centre of town and it was lovely; free breakfast, free internet, free laundry, and a large telly with every episode of friends on DVD. They even gave us goodie bags with the five stones game in it too.

When we finally dragger ourselves out of bed later that morning we began our exploration of Singapore on foot. We visited China town and explored the temples and markets there, walked to the Marina Bay Sands hotel, and then onto the Fountain of Wealth. It’s supposed to be the biggest fountain in Asia and all I can say is what a disappointment.

I then went off for a walk through some gorgeous shopping complexes, along the river, past some memorials, and through Queen Elizabeth Walk. The city if stunning, and even just cutting through the underground MRT station was a treat as inside were just groups playing instruments, dancing, and taking a nap. Also, it’s so clean. In the evening I got another fabulous view of the city from the Singapore flyer.

Food and drink wise there isn’t much that is really traditional to Singapore. There is the chilli crab though which was great even though I made an immense mess eating it, and then we went to Raffles bar to have a Singapore Sling. We then finished the night in Clarke Quay drinking alcohol from an IV drip – different J

Day 35/36 - Bangkok, Thailand #2

Midday and we finally arrived in Bangkok. The hotel was only a 5 min walk from the station and on the way Linda and I picked up the suitcases we had left before leaving for our IndoChina tour adventure. That in itself was very exciting... I was reunited with my shoes.

A day just chilling out was in order so all the girls just went shopping :-) before meeting back at the hotel for our last supper. As a treat we went to the Bangkok Sky Restaurant, and since it was all you can eat we ate waaaay too much food. We also went up to the rotating platform to get a 360 degree view of Bangkok. Following this we went out for drinks in Khao San road for our last party together. The night was amazing! Lots of cheap drinks, good music, dancing, and the occassional game of spot the lady boy :-/ . Myself and another girl were then the last out and we moved from our bar to "The Club" - such an imaginative name - which was really interesting inside so I'm definitely glad we tried it. Finally we decided to head home, but not before getting commemorative henna tattoo's and getting the craziest tuk tuk driver.

Day 36 was departure day :-(

We borded out flight around 9pm and headed for Singapore...

Day 30/31/32 - Luang Prabang, Laos

The morning of day 30 we had an early start to take the coach to the UNESCO heritage listed town of Luang Prabang. As is usual for Laos now the trip took us up the sides of the mountains, so, it was seriously bumpy and windy, my ears popped a few times from the altitude, but, it was worth it because the scenery was beautiful.

For dinner, instead of going to a resaurant as normal, we went to the local market and had what mum refers to as "adventure food". Personally it is my favourite way to eat. We simply wandered around the food stalls and bought whatever looked appealing/interesting. Sadly though there were no bugs available :-( . The next day we went for a walk through the market, politely rejected all the offers for Tuk Tuk rides and prostitutes, visited the temple, and took a free boat ride to have lunch (and two for one cocktails) overlooking the river. In the evening Linda and I then dragged ourselves up the 300 or so steps of the Pousi temple to watch the sunset :-)

An early night was then in order as this morning we got up at half 5 to go sit on the side of the road and give the passing monks food. It was an interesting experience but we had to be careful as they're not allowed to look females in the eye. Afterwards we headed back for breakfast, packed, and are now on an 8 hour boat ride to Pak Being for the night. Following which we will get back on the boat and head for the Laos/Thailand border. Although it's a long journey it is quite enjoyable. Its easy to sleep on the boat, I have plenty of food, plenty of entertainment, the scenery is lush, and the company is great :-)