TravelStream™ news feed for member hollister on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/hollister en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 22 Feb 2009 04:13:03 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1149489000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1149489000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1149489000/tpod.html Sun, 22 Feb 2009 04:13:03 -0500 'Playing' with lions, bathing with elephants and into the unknown... my journey to find somewhere that fits and delay 'real life' a little longer!

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Sharjah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Africa episode is over and the Dubai one begins. I have to say I'm not impressed with it so far (sorry Matt!) 'cos I got extremely ripped off by the taxi driver. He tried to take me to his friends hotel by pretending he didn't know where my one was and when I was insistent on the name of the hotel and showed him on my phone about 100 times he miraculously knew where it was. Total idiot! The hotel staff were pretty friendly though and I was so glad to have a bed 'cos I was knackered... and not just any room either - one with a bath (a bath!) and air con! Such a change from the cold nights of South Africa - it's bloody boiling here!

The week between when I last wrote was so much fun. We went on a lot of trips with Helene including the markets and a canopy tour which was just amazing. We took around 10 zip lines across the mountains and if you didn't break in time then you were headed for the rocks! Helene took us to her house - she has a pool quite literally on her doorstep! It was a fun day and we made it last as long as we could. We also had a leaving party in the boma (party place where they have birthday parties for the kids and stuff!) as 4 of us were leaving on that weekend and some of the other park staff came to join in. We were up 'till stupid o'clock and still got up for our last day of work (just in time!).

I also noticed a few more things about the country - like how they have fires at the side of the road almost everywhere! Some of them are purposely done to avoid fire spreading if it starts but the majority are there because people have carelessly thrown a cigarette butt out of the window and started a fire! I'm sure I've written a few more in my journal but I don't have it with me so I'll have to update at some point in the future!

In contrast the the last week, my last day in South Africa was very sad. I took loads more pictures (well, Gemma did for me!) and did some video tours to send home on cd's. I got dressed to leave but couldn't resist going in with Ohno and the lions one more time so got caked in mud and lion poo and got a few more bites, scratches and rips... the worst part is that I didn't bother changing so I looked a mess and stank all the way on the plane! Just lucky I had 3 seats to myself again 'cos I don't think anyone would've wanted to come near me! I shed a few tears as I said my last goodbyes to the cubs, a few more when I said goodbye to the new friends and loads more as we flew out of the country.

Overall view of South Africa? It's a beautiful place with so much land and so much cultural history. It's not as crime ridden as everyone says if you're smart enough to know the places to avoid and you stay sensible. It's definitely still a racist place to be and also pretty sexist but I think (and hope) with time that things will change. People out there need to appreciate and embrace each others cultures a lot more than they do because it's a truly individual place to live. I'm not sure it's place I would choose to settle (there's no sea near the park!) and especially not just yet but I would most definitely go back there again and it's left me wanting to see so much more.

PS - I've been trying to upload photos so you could all see some of me and the lions but I can't do it so it's just gonna have to wait until I find a post office that's open so mum can do it 'cos I don't have the patience!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1147048260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1147048260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1147048260/tpod.html Sun, 22 Feb 2009 04:03:41 -0500 'Playing' with lions, bathing with elephants and into the unknown... my journey to find somewhere that fits and delay 'real life' a little longer!

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Johannesburg, South Africa

Well, here I am at Pretoria Backpackers and am I glad to be here! No horrific stories to tell but after about 18 hours of travel I had to wait a looooong time at the airport before finally being picked up! No food from breakfast and we got here too late for lunch so have only just eaten! Such a long flight and have had about 2 hours sleep in well over 48 hours but I'm sure there'll be much more of that to come so no real complaint!

I was initially under the impression that we would be taken directly to our projects but all the volunteers for this area were picked up together and then we stay here for one night before moving on to our projects in the morning - nice chance to get to know everyone but a shame 'cos you lose a lot of them the next day! Not found anyone who's away quite as long as me yet but I'm rapidly working on it!

The flights were both very pleasant and had lots more room thanks to people not showing up or the tickets not being booked! Lucky so far but am still working on getting that free upgrade at some point on this trip!

South Africa is quite a cultural difference... different ethnicities really didn't mix at the airport (although me being me saw the seat and just sat down before I noticed that!). Lots of people wanting to take you places at the airport but I trooped through and fought them all off (I know, be proud!)! All the houses have barbed wire or electric fences around them with instant access to armed security should anything happen... and this is apparently in the rich area and we are to see the poorer parts on the way to our projects tomorrow. I guess I had been pre-warned of this so knew what to expect but it's definitely an eye opener to actually see it. There is so much land and it's all so flat... good for walking if it was safe! Houses we've seen so far look huge and beautiful - so much more room than England.

Found out at a very long orientation today how to deal with spiders, snakes and ticks at our projects... have to say the ticks are the things that are worrying me the most - sound horrible!! I hadn't even expected those kind of things, prob a good thing 'cos I may have talked myself out of it otherwise!

The hostel I am staying in now is very nice - we have an outdoor shower at the back of our room (pictures taken!) which is sooo cool and there's a lovely fire burning in a room full of people just learning about eachother. The garden is gorgeous and it was very warm when we arrived today. Apparently it's their winter at the moment but you'd never know - cold when the sun goes in but boiling otherwise!

Off to the lion park tomorrow and apparently won't have internet access for at least a week so it may be a while before any of you hear from me again. I'll try to write some letters/postcards 'cos I think the evenings will be pretty quiet and the tents are fully equipped with electricity and stuff so it's not as basic as I initially thought! Time's almost up on here and I want a shower and some sleep! Hope you are all well and I'll update again as soon as I can! Take care xx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1223171460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1223171460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1223171460/tpod.html Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:53:40 -0500 'Playing' with lions, bathing with elephants and into the unknown... my journey to find somewhere that fits and delay 'real life' a little longer!

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Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Car stuff I took out....

Some of you already know all about it so sorry to bore you but a brief explanation of my moment of utmost stupidity for those who don't. After getting $800 worth of work done on boy (the car's name), I went to stay with Kon in a hostel as he'd just got back from 4 weeks slave labor on a farm. I parked slightly up on the curb and decided that might not be a great idea with 4 new tyres so moved it forward slightly to take it down. I'm still not entirely sure what happened or how it happened but I went to press the brake and apparently it was the accelerator sending me right into the back of the car in front... which sent that into the car in front of that. Nice work Hollie. Of course, it wasn't my fault. Middle of the city on a Saturday night there was nothing for it but honesty so after leaving my details on the cars I headed to the police station to report it... it was most embarrassing checking the last box of each section which I decided was probably known to the police as the "I'm stupid" box. It was a good thing I wasn't drunk but at least that would've been less embarrassing! So, without insurance (it's not law here) I'm a little stuffed and scared of driving it to even the scrap yard to look for new parts. I've still been driving Daryl's V8 Monaro but he has full insurance on that one so it doesn't scare me as much! It's been a month since I heard from the insurance company but I'm hoping it's not gonna cost too much and I'm off to the wreckers this weekend to either get some new parts for mine or see how much they'll give me for it as it is. I had planned to drive it back to Melb but I'm over it now and it might be less hassle to sell it for less than go through the new rego and pink slips you have to get to sell it on. We shall have to see! I've only driven about 20K on my new tyres!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1226514600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1226514600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1226514600/tpod.html Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:51:08 -0500 'Playing' with lions, bathing with elephants and into the unknown... my journey to find somewhere that fits and delay 'real life' a little longer!

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Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Now, I realise I still have some catching up to do from Darwin down the west coast of Oz (my fave part of Australia by the way) but I keep leaving my all important journal at home which has all I'll be writing about documented in full and I don't want to miss anything!

However, I thought it was about time I update everyone so instead I'll fill you in on my current life in Perth. Perth, Perth, Perth. What can I say about Perth? When I arrived in New Zealand and found that things were a little behind (still watching videos with DVD's slowly coming in, shops closing at normal times like 5pm, restaurants closing at 10pm etc) I wasn't that surprised. It actually added to my enjoyment of the country and I got used to and lived around it. I would never have expected that the biggest city on the west coast would be even further behind. That's right. Perth is like living in the dark ages sometimes. I do understand that it's pretty much the only major city on this side of the country but for that reason alone I'd expect it to be running to catch up. Supermarkets close at 6pm which is more than frustrating as by the time you get the train home from work you would barely be able to make it there in time let alone be able to run around and do a shop... 'let's leave it until Sunday' you might think. Nope, all the shops are closed on a Sunday. Yes. All (almost!). That includes clothes, food, chemist... anything you might want! And if a mall is miraculously opened on a Sunday it'll probably be advertised all over the TV. That's okay though, you can just do home shopping online instead right? Don't be silly, this is WA! Go to any other state and you'll probably have it. But no, not here! And whatever happen to the amazing customer service I got used to in NZ and most of Oz? It appears to be lacking in WA. It's like they know you have nowhere else to go so they don't really need to be polite. Oddly, the most polite and helpful people I've encountered in this state are all from England! I'd like to say it's a cute little quirk of WA but it's not, it's just annoying!

Wow, I'm truly living up to my status of a whinging pom huh?! Let's move on to the good things. On my arrival in Perth I spent the first few nights in a hostel with the girls I toured the west coast with before going to meet up with Daryl, a good friend from my first year at uni. He was my saviour and without him I definitely would've been begging to the bank of mum and dad for some money 'cos it was running pretty damn low. I hadn't planned to be out of work for so long but apparently we had wrongly timed the fruit picking season so work was becoming a problem. I figured if I could just get here then I'd get an office job and be fine. Which was almost true. I had only planned to stay with him a few weeks until I got on my feet but 2 months on I'm still there. We moved house and now I have my own little room - it's just a pull out bed in his music room but rent's cheap and I would've been lost without it - on the street or stuck in a hostel with smelly people. I'm not sure which would've been worse! So yeah, I'll be eternally grateful to Daryl for this!

After being here a week and joining numerous temp agencies I wasn't having much luck. As usual I was frustrated at not being snapped up due to my amazing skills but it just didn't seem to be happening. Gradually the calls started coming in and eventually Hays called me to go in for the tedious joining procedure. It just so happened that my consultant was from Christchurch so with my love of the place we got on right away. I happened to mention the stuff I'd done in New Zealand and she thought she might have a role for me starting the next day. After some typical WA slackness I started work 3 days later. Of course, they hadn't told mentioned anything about the company (not even the name) and as usual, they got the duties completely wrong but after a brief informal interview (mostly talking about my travels!) I got the job. Yey! It was only a 4 week temp role but they've decided to keep me until I wanted to leave. Perfect! The job is at a mining company called Ausenco (that allows me time to write things like this in between phone calls!). It's a pretty cool company to work for - even if I've been abandoned on the first floor of a big building while it's being refurbished. I still get to see the maintenance guys (always fun!) and other staff if they want something! I have the fancy title of 'corporate receptionist' but, to be honest, it's not that different from any other receptionist roles I've done! It's a big company though - def the biggest I've worked for so far. As with the one in NZ, there's the ever fun end of months drinks every month and I'm just in time for the Christmas party which is looking like a fun night!

Unfortunately I haven't made as many friends in Perth as I'd hoped which is probably due to a number of factors... firstly, I didn't stay in a hostel so I didn't make any there, secondly I'm not working in a bar so my social network is slacking and thirdly 'cos I'm probably just not as friend-thirsty as I was before. I'm happy with the ones I have ;) I'm also over the traveler introductions so I generally avoid them! Kon left last month for NZ and then onto Asia which was sad but I'm gradually accepting that he's not in Perth anymore! I have made a few good friends here though and I'm kinda happy with that. I don't have the spare cash to spend on weekends like I did before anyway 'cos I'm now saving for the end of my trip.

Yes, you heard it right. End of my trip. This trip at least! Over the past few weeks I've been gradually booking my one way flights home - I just couldn't quite bring myself to do it all at once! I had planned to go home via South America but the cost was almost double what it was to go via Asia so I decided to make it a goodbye tour! I'll be making my way east to Melbourne (to hopefully see Alli and Luke's increasing family!), back to NZ to see my friends, back to Thailand to see my (now fully grown) babies, a quick stop over in Germany and then back in the UK massive! I'm still in a little shock that I actually booked it (and I know a few others are too!). After the car accident I just decided I'd had enough and wanted to go home...

Yes, you heard right again. Hollie had a car accident. I won't go into details just 'cos of insurance come backs but I was not happy at all :( No-one hurt though so it could've been much worse I suppose!

And that's about all the happenings in Perth. A few drunken evenings, a few outings to the beach and lots of runs around the local park is about all my current life comes down to, boring hey?! I'm just keeping in mind it's saving to pay for the fun later (and the other car!) and I know there's plenty of that to come! Hope all is well with you all and pleeeease send me some emails to update me on your lives! I still miss you all and can't wait to see a lot of you... oh, I get home mid-April by the way so I'll expect a party thanks :)

A few little extra things - dad, I hope your knee is feeling better (stop making mum your slave), good luck to Si, Nicky, Alex and Arabella on the move to Bahrain, Coti have a safe flight to Europe and congratulations to Ruth and John on their new baby boy, Harry. I can't wait to see him!
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Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Okay, due to costs and time limits this is going to be a very brief update on my travels with my parents. We did so much in a little under 4 weeks that to try and write it all would take forever - some of you will also have heard it all from them and seen the pictures too so I don't want to go into too much detail!

After my delayed arrival in Oz I didn't get much time to look for a car before they arrived so we headed out on their first day in Melbourne and bought one, as you do! Unfortnately there was some work that needed to be done to it before we could have it and so we ended up spending a lot more time in Melbourne than we intended to. It also felt very weird to part pay for the car and walk away without it! However, after 6 days we'd pretty much exhausted all the tourist options available in Melbourne and couldn't wait to pick up the car. Of course, I am now totally in love with my Ford Falcon Sedan with it's cruise control, a/c and slightly sketchy radio. I realise most people wouldn't be excited by this but it's all new to me on a car of my own and it's also the most powerful car I've ever had. I love it and should anything happen to it I will be more than devastated I'm sure. Just the freedom it gives me is enough to make me happy!

Anyway, after doing (literally) everything in Melbourne we just wanted to get out (don't get me wrong, I love the city and my friends I have there but I also just wanted to get travelling with my parents!) and so headed north, stopping at a hick town along the way that none of us can remember the name of! Many jokes were made about the hotel in relation to Norman Bates and Psycho but it was actually a pretty nice place. The following morning we made our way to Sydney and after a day of driving and about an hour of not being able to find the place (with a GPS no less!) we finally arrived at our motel. We again exhausted the tourist activities with bus tours around the city, a boat tour of the harbour and buses out to Bondi Beach and other local beaches. We also met up with an old school friend of dad's who took out to dinner and a club. Sydney was another great city but not somewhere I'm sure I could live and work for the latter part of my visa. We had a fun time and ended up spending 5 days there after some adjustment to our initial plans. We realised that, mainly because of the delay with the car, we weren't going to make it up quite as high as I'd wanted and so cut out a section of the trip.

On leaving Syndey we stopped at the Blue Mountains which were absolutely beautiful including a trip down to the Jenolan Caves - possibly one of the most bendy roads I have driven on. I thought it was great fun but mum wasn't so keen about the sheer drop off the edge with some rotten wooden posts being our safety net! We ended up doing a night tour of the caves which worked in our favour as we were the only 3 on it so got a personal and extended tour for the same price! After 3 days in the mountains we headed back to the coast and stayed at Port Macquarie for a few nights. Nice little town with a koala hospital with some sad stories but not much else to do other than that. 2 nights there and then up to Coff''s Harbour which I loved. Some gorgeous deserted beaches (with snakes on the walk on the way!) and a lovely little town. After one night there it was up to Lismore to see John and Sue, some friends my grandparents used to live in Malawi with! I stayed there this time last year but it had been a long time since my parents had seen them. We did a side trip to Byron Bay on our first day and then on to Nimbin the following day (gotta love Nimbin, I did last time!). Mostly we just relaxed and ate gorgeous food cooked by Sue. A much needed break seeing as both mum and dad were ill!

After that we went up to Hervey Bay ready for our trip over to K'Guri/Fraser Island. We decided to go on a trip where someone else would drive - partly to take a break from the driving but also because I thought dad might have a heart attack if he had to drive on roads of sand and mum might have one if she sat in the back having to watch! We did a tour of most of the island and got so much into just 2 days! It was an absolutely beautiful place with so much history (we had a very knowledgeable driver!) and I think it was the highlight of all of our trip together! We left, begrudgingly, and drove south to Noosa the evening we arrived back on the mainland.

Noosa was another beauitful town but clearly a very desirable area to live if the property market is anything to go by! We stayed 2 nights and visited some very windy beaches and just generally looked around the towns (lots of little ones all spread out!) before moving South again to Brisbane. We found a gorgeous place to stay in Brisbane - a 2 bedroom town house in the city, a great place for us to spend our last 2 days together. We went to visited Christian (the son of John and Sue!) and his fiance, Lucy, in their coffee shop in the city and then took Christian out for dinner that night. Was great to see him again too as while it had again been only a year for me, it had been a lot longer for my parents! The last day was spent getting some last minute souviners for people and then being on a boat touring the river, good to start but a little long in the end! We cooked up a Mexican feast for dinner, watched a movie and took an early night as we had to be up early in the morning!

On Sunday we headed to the airport and said our goodbyes. I was, of course, very sad to see them go and I'm feeling slightly lost without them but I'm sure I'll get used to it again. We've literally been together 24/7 since they arrived so it feels a little like ripping off a plaster at the moment! They're on their way back to you in the UK now so hopefully the family will hear more of the stories soon! Was great to see you both mum and dad and I'll hopefully see you in New Zealand next year! Miss you!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1217606400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1217606400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1217606400/tpod.html Wed, 01 Oct 2008 02:55:45 -0400 'Playing' with lions, bathing with elephants and into the unknown... my journey to find somewhere that fits and delay 'real life' a little longer!

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Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

To be honest Mt Scheize probably deserves an entry of its own but I don't really want to give it the satisfaction. So, after our first experiences of outback driving we finally arrived in the 'big' mining town of Mt Isa (side note; according to a poll done here in Oz, Mt Isa has the ugliest women in Australia!). We had entertained the idea of mining because it both earns you a packet and can go towards your seasonal work - bonus! Some of you might laugh at the idea of me mining but I reckon I could've coped. However, you have to pay about $400 to do the course and then another $200 for a medical and then you're not even guaranteed a job. We didn't really have that kind of cash to spare so we skipped it and found a job cleaning on a local campsite where we also lived in our 2 man tent. Quite possibly the worst job I've done and when I felt at my lowest. Yes, worse than the sock factory where I could sit and listen to the radio all day and possibly worse than those night shifts at the paper factory. Oh the depths I have gone to on this trip! If only I'd know bar work had been around the corner all the time I never would've gone there!

Our new job was only about 4 hours a day if that which was nowhere near enough to really save anything and left us with nothing to do the rest of the time but sit and bat away the ridiculous amount of flies that surrounded us and maybe sweat a lot in the heat. It was indeed boiling during the day but as soon as the sun went in it was time to layer up 'cos it was quite honestly freezing. We were also arguing which I was hating. It was probably due frustration and boredom and the fact we barely had 2 minutes apart from each other. After just over 2 weeks we finally escaped after exhausting all the recommended things to do in Mt Isa... the hilltop view at day and night, seen the wallabies (or maybe kangaroos, we never confirmed it!), drank in the local bar, been to the local lake (don't swim though 'cos there's a risk of crocs and you might get a skin disease from these lice things!) and... that's about it. We were going to do the mining tour which is probably the only real thing of interest but we left it 'till the last few days and it was all booked out (!).

Anyway, after escaping we headed to Tennant Creek - clearly not content with cycling we saw a crazy woman running, yes running, on this part of the journey. I'm pretty sure I heard on the news that some chick was practicing for the Olympics doing this and she was carrying a false Olympic torch so it could've been her but still crazy whichever way! Tennant Creek.... we'd heard a few horror stories from people on the campsite at Mt Isa (we did actually meet some interesting old folks!) about cars and belongings being stolen and people running outside the campsite making howling noises all night... needless to say we weren't really looking forward to it. We rocked up at a hostel that looked like something out of Wolfe Creek so we soon departed but the actual town was quite nice. Ridiculously expensive supermarket but other than that it was okay. There was an abundance of native Australians (also known as Aborigines for those who were unaware!) but to be honest we'd become fairly accustomed to that. We found a nice little campsite on the outskirts of town and settled in for the night. We'd been having issues finding cheap food to cook 'cos none of the camp sites had any cooking facilities other than BBQ's... so more food shopping and another BBQ for us! We sat in the on site bar for a beer and enjoyed the company of a very lively puppy (I've noticed that dogs in the outback are filthy 'cos there's so much dust around but that doesn't stop me loving them!) before eating and heading in a for an early night (all the driving was knackering me out!) where we were joined by some wild dogs... stayed away from those ones 'cos they didn't seem quite so friendly!

Next day we moved on to Katherine - another place we'd heard bad stories about! Again, not as bad as we expected... well, except for the 'character' who was on the camp site with us. We arrived at the same time as a lovely middle aged couple who chatted to us about their travels around Oz and their farm at home etc. However, we kept being rudely interrupted by a drunken Aussie and his high on crack girlfriend (and I'm not kidding) who were yelling all kinds of things at each other and their 'friends'. They then started to talk to us 'cos Kon had bought beer without any ID - apparently they'd been told that it was law that anyone who wanted to buy beer in Katherine had to have their ID photocopied... I'm not surprised the state they were in! Much swearing and far too much racism later they stopped talking to us... the only disadvantage of the tent being that we could hear them all night. So annoying! We also saw a big police argument in the car park outside the bottle-o (off license to us English!) when they turned up to ferry off some very drunk Aborigines who couldn't stand let alone talk!

Up early the next morning to travel on to Litchfield National Park. I had also wanted to go to Kakadu but due to time restrictions unfortunately had to skip it this time around... hopefully I'll go back one day! However, Litchfield was beautiful. It was probably one of my favourite places of Oz so far and we got to stop at lots of waterfalls where we could actually swim without crocs around! The north was pretty damn hot - even at night which was a nice change from the Isa! After a day in the sun we found a camp site to crash at... more problems with food as we were told there was a camp kitchen. I threw a tantrum (I know, unheard of!) 'cos I was sick of buying expensive food just 'cos people lied to us. I was ready to starve and after yelling at Kon for no real reason went to sulk in the car. He came back a while later and had bought me veggie lasagne and a beer - bless him!

The following day was on to Darwin and back into civilisation... pretty small considering it's the biggest city of the Northern Territory (I think) but still better compared to the hick towns we'd been used to the past few weeks! This was a fairly short journey once we'd let the national park and we stopped at some WW2 grave site that Kon wanted to see - he was surprised how small it was being used to the huge ones in Germany but then not many people from Oz were dragged in to fight so it's not so surprising! This was also the journey where I lost a part of my car! Every time we drove past a road train or anything big the visor on my windscreen was really rattling. After a while I pulled over to check it to find that 2 of the screws on my side had come right out. I tried to screw them back in but there was nothing to attach them to. I was so worried about it coming off and killing someone in the car behind me! Kon kept playing it down and then another truck drove by and it went flying off!! Luckily there was no-one behind us, it flew off to the side and there was no damage done to the car. I contemplated going back to find it but after discovering it had actually snapped and left half the plastic behind I decided there wasn't much point! The other annoying thing was that it's disappearance revealed another chip in the windscreen! Grrr! We finally arrived in Darwin in one piece and begrudgingly headed to another campsite for a few nights which was shockingly expensive. Accommodation was tight as we just happened to arrive for Darwin cup week - great if we'd wanted to be involved... not so great 'cos we didn't!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1221528360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1221528360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1221528360/tpod.html Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:45:20 -0400 'Playing' with lions, bathing with elephants and into the unknown... my journey to find somewhere that fits and delay 'real life' a little longer!

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Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia

Another backdated one - and the longer I leave it the more I have to do! Anyway, here goes nothing!

On our arrival in Cairns we decided it might be time for us to work. The backpacker word is apparently worth nothing 'cos the "yeah, there's loads of work in Cairns" line was total rubbish. It probably would've been okay for me to get some short term bar work or something but for German Kon it was more of a challenge. So, after exhausting all avenues on more seasonal work (yes, we were going to resort to fruit picking again) and finding absolutely nothing again, we made the decision to do what we wanted to do on the east coast and then begin our outback adventure.

After a night in Cairns and a quick catch up with the girls I shared a room with in Bundaberg, we made our way north to Cape Tribulation. For some reason I had assumed that being a country with most of it's population along the coast, the roads would run along the sea providing eye treats along the way much the same as New Zealand's roads did. Well, I couldn't really have been more wrong! These are real highways with more than one lane with not much to see and some pretty bad drivers. However, the road to Cape Tribulation was a nice treat taking us along very windy (as in bendy, not the weather!) coastal roads with some gorgeous views (I was concentrating on the road, I promise!). We soon were back inland though and I think funny moment of that trip was when the sat nav just casually said "at the end of the road turn right. Then, take the ferry"... as if that's just the most normal thing in the world to do when you're driving a car! We were pretty low on petrol and the 'helpful' woman at the ticket station told us that there was nowhere to buy petrol on Cape Trib so we should drive about 25k back and get some petrol there. Clearly she had connections or family at that place 'cos there were 2 places to buy petrol across the water. All be it expensive but there none-the-less! Stupid woman.

The road after the ferry was like crossing into a different country. Cape Trib is a national park so it's well looked after and so far hasn't been ruined by tourists. I mean, there are a lot of tourists but they (or maybe I should say we being as I'm one too!) just haven't ruined it yet! There is an abundance of rainforest and I think it might even have the highest rainfall in Oz... don't quote me on that though 'cos I could well be making it up! Accommodation was expensive as it's seen as more of a resort than anything so we decided to camp again (groan). We did some beautiful rainforest walks (thank god we had the car to get there though!) and saw some stunning beaches - including walking along one where we saw our first "do not swim, crocdiles live here" sign and a jelly fish stinger station with vinegar incase you stung. Something I found fairly amusing was that these two signs were next to eachother on the same beach... "don't swim 'cos there are crocodiles... but if you are stupid enough to and then get stung by jelly fish then here's some vinegar and you'll be fine". How stupid would you really need to be? Then again, this is Australia and these are tourists! We collected and painfully stripped some coconuts from the beach to eat and mostly just relaxed and enjoyed our little paradise surrounded by snakes, crocs and got knows what else (we didn't want to look).

After 2 nights there we moved on to Port Douglas and more camping at Dougies. It was a sweet little town and with money would probably be a lot of fun - tourist overload and all (Larry's moving there next year by the way dad!). One of my main things I wanted to do in Australia and most of the reason I learnt to dive in Thailand was so that I could dive the Great Barrier Reef. After the inital disappoinment on the Whitsunday's I decided to go from Port Douglas - this being my birthday present from mum and dad! Sadly, I was more than disappointed with it. It was nothing compared to my dives in Thailand and due to the amount of dive traffic that goes through there the coral is broken and mostly ruined. Such a shame 'cos I'd imagine it was absolutely beautiful when it was discovered. I did meet an extremely large cod (I'm talking about half the size of me so no battering this one!) and a few interesting fish but it's not something I'd recommend or particularly jump to do again. It probably didn't help that it wasn't a great day weather wise and so we were surrounded by puking kids for the hour or so journey out to the reef! I did meet a cool guy, Ollie, from Tasmania though who has said I'm more than welcome to go and stay if I make it there!

After my dive trip we drove back to Cairns and got stopped for a random breath test along the way - quickest police stop I've ever had but we hadn't had a drink for a few days so I was more than safe! We stayed in Cairns a few nights while we sorted things out ready to travel inland and I had another quick catch up with the girls from Bundy! While we had enjoyed the sights and warmth tropical Queensland had to offer the fact you can't fully enjoy the beaches by swimming without a stinger suit or the threat of crocs meant we weren't particularly sad to be leaving. I also found the east coast rather overpowering in general. It's overpopulated in a lot of parts and there are tourists just about everywhere! I have to admit, I was missing New Zealand more than a little bit.

On Thursday afternoon (10/7) we made our way inland for our outback adventures. We drove around some amazing mountain roads which, as usual, brought back memories of treacherous journies in Sri Lanka and Malaysia before breaking out on to straighter roads surrounded by huge trees. Who says this place is dry and desolate?! We left late afternoon and took Savannah Highway arriving in Innot Hot Springs just as it was getting dark. They call it a town but really it's just a camp site with it's own petrol station, a bar and some very cool natural hot springs. While cooking dinner we spoke to a nice man in the kitchen. When we explained our route to him he asked what kind of 4WD we had... "why is he asking that?", we thought. Well, it turns out with our natural planning instinct we had stupidly overlooked the fact that one of the roads was not sealed. Well done us! He went and dragged his maps out of the car and helped us plan a new and much safer route which didn't really add too many extra K's to our journey. After the stress of all that we decided it was time to enjoy the hot springs... or at least we did once a slightly crazy German guy who kept talking to me about being a Viking (me apparently, not him) disappeared. Still toasty when we got into bed we didn't think the coldness of the night would bother. And boy, was it COLD! I ended up 'sleeping' in the car and it's possibly the worst night I've had since I've been here! Kon had borrowed a feather duvet from reception so he was nice and warm but my sleeping bag just wasn't made for those temperatures. Finally warmed by the sun in the morning I managed to get out of bed and survive the long journey ahead of us.

As we were leaving the 'town' we realised our outback adventure was truly beginning. Our first indication was another comical road sign. This time it was a simple "beware" with a picture of a giant cow pretty much eating a car. I mean, I've heard horror stories from the outback but man eating cows?! We wondered what we were letting ourselves in for! A few kilometres later we encountered our first car eating cow - on it's side with rigamortis firmly set in! It was all an exciting new experience to begin with but 10 dead cows and a million dead (and shredded) kanagroos later we were soon a little tired of it... and I won't even go into the stench a dead animal in the outback can produce. Let's just say we could smell a lot a long time before we saw them!

Something we weren't quite prepared for was the state of the roads. The one that heads inland from Townsville is apparently completely sealed the whole way... but of course we didn't take that route! So, we were faced with a lot of one lane roads - wide enough for two cars to drive on but only sealed enough for one! It can get a bit like playing chicken to see who pulls onto the unsealed part first! I got pretty good at it! With these roads and the cows (both alive and dead!) I decided that 80K was my safe limit... at least for the first few hours but I soon got bored of that!

Soon into the journey we got stuck behind a road train - these things are HUGE! They can be up to 50 feet long and are as wide as the one lane road. They can go pretty fast on a flat road but any kind of hill and they obviously slow down. Ever overtaken one of these things? Only then would you know how it plays with your nerves to start with! They recommend you can see at least 1K of empty road ahead before overtaking - not such a problem on those loooooong straight roads but on these roads we were on it was a nightmare. It was also on this journey that I recieved my first 2 windscreen chips. One taught me my lesson that I shouldn't get too close to roadtrains and the other taught me that people in 4WD's aren't bothered if they chip your windscreen - they can drive on unsealed roads so why should they care?!

Anyway, 7 hours after leaving the hot springs we arrived in the tiny town of Normanton, which incidentally had the coolest Westpac building I've ever seen! It was another one of those 'towns' although there was a bit more than a camp site and a pub (although it did have both of those!). We had a beer on the porch of the pub surrounded by country folk and aboriginies before retiring to bed for another cold night of camping.

Another nice man was helpful in the morning when I was trying to put what I thought was oil into my car. He kindly pointed out that it looked like transmission fluid and, after a little reading (which I possibly should've done in the supermarket) I soon realised he was correct! Doh! So, wasted money and on to the petrol station on the way out to buy the right stuff which, needless to say was about 4 times the price in this hick town! Better than paying to get sorted if we'd run out of oil though!

Back on the road and towards Mount Isa, stopping at a roadhouse along the way for pictures with road trains (Kon was a little obsessed!). This time we saw the routine dead kanga's and cows but added to this was a live but clearly completely crazy cyclist! Who cycles through the outback where there can be nothing (and I mean nothing) for up to 400K?! Seriously. Insane. We were now entering the red dusty hills I had always associated with the outback and after about 7 more hours driving through it we arrived in the mining town of Mt Isa. Interesting fact for you - land wise it's the biggest city in the world so I can tick that one off my list of things to do! To be honest though, I wouldn't recommend a visit but then that could've just been the job we got....


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1218248580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1218248580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1218248580/tpod.html Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:18:11 -0400 'Playing' with lions, bathing with elephants and into the unknown... my journey to find somewhere that fits and delay 'real life' a little longer!

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Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Well, I've decided to backdate a little and do these next few updates in sections because there is so much to catch up on that you'll end up reading a novel if I do it all in one go! So, I'll start with leaving Bundaberg.

From there we headed towards Rockhampton. After driving in for about 5 minutes we decided we didn't like it and still having a few hours of sun left we carried on to the little beach town of Yeppoon. We were awarded with a gorgeous beach to spend the evening on but there were no hostels to stay in. Luckily I'd decided to buy a tent from a girl in Bundaberg 'just incase' and so we found a camp site and spent the evening there. Little did I know how much my 'just incase' would come in handy! Of course, the first night camping was fairly exciting but it soon got a bit tiresome!

From Yeppoon we went on to Airlie Beach (25th). We had planned to stop before that but Kon wanted to watch Germany in the world cup and of course, none of the small towns along the way were showing it and Mackay was fully booked out so we pushed on to Airlie arriving just as the sun was going down (an important factor here if you want to avoid hitting Kangaroos along the way!). Again, nowhere was really showing it and Kon was so desperate he splashed out on an apartment for $130 the night! A night of pure luxury I have to say. Our own apartment with aircon, a huge tv and bathroom compared to sharing a dorm was like a dream come true! Of course, he made me get up and watch the football with him at 5am which I was less than impressed with!

One of the main reasons I had wanted to head north was to do a tour of the Whitsundays so the following day we looked around town for a reasonable tour without skipping out on the essentials. I had wanted a trip to the outer reef but you needed extra days for that and along with it being ridiculously expensive, Kon had to be back for the final on the Sunday! It didn't help that the weather forecast wasn't looking too great for us but it was now or never so we found a fairly cheap one and booked it. It was a good trip for sailing due to the wind but other than that I was extremely disappointed with the trip to be perfectly honest. I thought we would spend some time exploring the islands but in 2 and a half days we got off the boat once to see an island and once to snorkel (at which point I was the only one in the water 'cos everyone else thought it was too cold!). I think if the weather had been nicer it would've made the trip a lot better for me but I still would've been disappointed with the lack of land. I just spent too much time dreaming about the sights in the tour books so I've learnt from that mistake! I'm glad I did it otherwise I'd be constantly regretting it but next time I'll choose a lot more carefully!

From Airlie we stopped in the small town of Ayr. We contemplated staying for fruit picking as there was a lot of work there and our funds were rapidly decreasing but neither of us was really ready to work again and we figured there'd be plently of work north so we continued on - big mistake! We did manage to find a hotel here so Kon could watch Germany lose in the final and after a quick nap we moved on. I had planned to stay a night in Townsville before jumping over the water to Magnetic Island but after getting there we, again, decided we weren't that keen and so booked our trip over right away.

Magnetic Island was beautiful. It's still relatively unspoilt at the moment but even though it's considered a national park there's still a lot of work going on so you can see it will only be a few years before it's over-run with tourists rather than eldery retirees! We stayed at a beautiful resort in a little wooden cabin that brought back many memories of Thailand. We were surrounded by wildlife - all kinds of weird birds, kangaroos and very friendly possoms who cheekily came to try and get food at night! We took a 'WW2' walk on one part of the island which Kon nearly skipped due to the warning signs telling you there were death adders on the walk and where they lived! It was just a walk around a place where they built protection after an attack but they never fired at an enemy and they were never struck which we actually found a little comical - I can't say it would've been a bad place for someone to spend the war looking out over some amazing views for planes that never came! We managed to spot a wild koala along the way sleeping in a tree - there were apparently quite a few more but we were too busy watching the floor for snakes to notice them! Dripping with sweat we made it back to the resort early afternoon and headed to the beach. Kon wasn't feeling well which was possibly a touch of sunstroke due to the silly boy not taking water with him. I was as sympathetic as ever and went to the pool to read in a hammock! He didn't leave the cabin for the rest of the day so he was pretty ill but after lots of fluid and sleep he seemed to be back to normal the next day!

We got the ferry back back to Townsville, thanked god my car was still there with all our stuff in it and then drove on to Mission Beach where we found some more of Australia's ridiculous road signs. Since travelling with mum and dad I've seen some really stupid signs and have been taking photos since leaving Bundaberg. On this road were signs asking you to be careful of Cassowaries (sp?). They're a rare bird in Oz and so they obviously don't want you to hit them. However, you have no real idea what you're looking for to not hit because according to the sign they're about twice the size of your car so surely you wouldn't miss them?! Turns out they're a little smaller than an Emu and that just made the sign even more comical to us! Mission Beach was nice but not really worth a stop unless you're tired 'cos while the beach is gorgeous, you can't swim in the ocean due to all kinds of stinging jelly fish and there's not really much else to do.

The next morning was on to Cairns where we thought we were going to stop and get work...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1214253360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1214253360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1214253360/tpod.html Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:48:25 -0400 'Playing' with lions, bathing with elephants and into the unknown... my journey to find somewhere that fits and delay 'real life' a little longer!

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Bundaberg, Australia

Yes, I'm leaving this town! It hasn't actually been as bad as I was expecting it to be although some evenings have been painfully boring. The locals have been very friendly and after getting moved to a new job after a few days the work wasn't quite as horrible, although it did use new muscles so I had to ache in different places for a few days... actually for the entire time!

For those who didn't already know I got moved to picking capsicums (peppers to us normal folk!) which is better pay ($1 a bucket before tax), has better farmers/supervisors and I soon discovered, a much better team of people. It was still 5:30am wake ups which is so tough for me but it was getting easier! My first few days were a little tough, not only due to the extreme pain in my lower back from bending to pick the capsicums, bruises and arm ache from hefting the more than 10 kilo bucket onto my shoulder and taking it to the truck but also because it had been raining for about 5 days straight meaning the field was near impossible to stand in without sinking. However, it was a great group of people and along with pretending to work hard we managed to have plenty of mud fights and laugh a lot at eachother as we sank knee deep into the mud with a full bucket on our shoulders! While making lots of new friends over the past few weeks I spent the most time with 2 of the guys on team caps, Konnie from Germany and Nils from Holland. They both became very good friends over the past few weeks and when Nils left last weekend I was very sad to see him go. Once the mud dried up we managed to have rotten capsicum fights (they STINK by the way!) which was fine for them 'cos they were on hourly pay but not so good for me 'cos messing around meant I was earning less money! The group of 20 of us was split into two with team Europe (the slow group) and team Asia (the insanely fast group).... I was probably one of the slowest on team Europe but the supervisors decided that when they no longer needed team Europe for a while they'd put me onto team Asia... I literally laughed out loud when Lonnie told me it was because the 4 of us he'd picked were the fastest. It turned out to be a good thing though 'cos it's been one of the few farms that has worked every day the past week or so. I've also been earning almost double what I was on team Europe 'cos my competitive streak has come out and I don't want to be last every day... that and the fact I wasn't getting the chance to play around any more!

While it's been the most physically exhausting job I've ever done in my life it hasn't all been work. We've taken some nice side trips to the beach which has made me appreciate my car even more - I wouldn't have been able to get out of the town without it and might possibly have gone crazy or worse, blended with the locals! Starting at 7am usually means finishing by around 11 and having earnt over $100 so we've got the afternoon free to do what we want. Great if it's a nice day but crap if not 'cos there really isn't much in this town at all! The money hasn't really been reason for this work though, it's keeping the option open for a 2nd visa for me so you can imagine how happy I was when Lonnie signed my 'proof of work' form and left the dates blank for me to fill in! I won't exaggerate too much 'cos they check out 1 in 10 forms but it's nice to know I can get more days down without having to slog them out on another farm!

Tomorrow Kon and I are heading off. We actually don't really know where we're going yet as we're both useless at planning but we'll get in the car and drive and see where we end up. I still need to do more seasonal work (about 6 or 7 weeks more... euch) and he doesn't have as long here as me so we'll prob go different ways quite soon but it'll be nice to have someone to drive with for a while and split the costs with! Otherwise not much news... a fairly boring update I realise but I thought I should let you all know I'm okay and add some pictures for you to laugh at the appalling conditions I'm dealing with! Hope all is well with everyone.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1211993640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1211993640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hollister/trip_2006/1211993640/tpod.html Wed, 28 May 2008 23:41:01 -0400 'Playing' with lions, bathing with elephants and into the unknown... my journey to find somewhere that fits and delay 'real life' a little longer!

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Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia

After a fun packed month with my parents I write this from the town of Bundaberg, affectionately termed 'Bundy' by the locals who, by the way, I think are slightly inbred like the west coast of New Zealand and not so happy to have backpackers here. An interesting place and somewhere that I will probably be remember as more of a nightmare than anything else.

For those of you who don't know, if you do 3 months seasonal work on a working holiday visa then you are entitled to a 1 year extension if you want it. I, not being one to rule out any options, have made the decision to go with it along with stories from lots of people about the amount of money they made being a good incentive.

I arrived here on Tuesday evening after a long drive from Brisbane and a hectic morning sorting out my tax number, medicare card (you never know when those spider and snake bites might happen!) and bank account, to find that everywhere was full or closed (at 6pm no less!). After realising that the joke of sleeping in my car might just be a reality that night, I called a hostel to find they had space and they'd get up (!) to check me in. After 1 night there I knew it wasn't for me and so went around the next day searching for somewhere that had a bed and seasonal work available. I finally came across Bundaberg Backpackers who charge an extortionate A$160 a week for a dorm room (keeping in mind I was paying about A$85 a week in Christchurch for my own double room!) and said they had seasonal work available. True to their word I was on the list to work the next day picking cherry tomatoes. At 5:15. Yes, I was gonna have to get up.

Oddly enough I was fine with waking up at 4:45am. Especially since it had been raining constantly since 1am and I figured work would be impossible so would be canceled. However, one of the girls in my room got up to check and was told it was all still on so we all got up and headed down. At about 5:45am we arrived at the farm and waited for the head guy to arrive. And waited. He eventually turned up around 6:15 when it was just starting to get light (feeling my pain yet?! You will.) and set us all to work with our buckets. I found out then that it was contract which meant I was getting A$4.75 after tax per bucket. Great if you're a speedy picker as all the Koreans seemed to be, not so good if you're me and the Irish girls I was with! I had fully intended to pick something where I didn't have to bend but no such luck on this one! After about 5 hours of picking we finally got a lunch break of about 20 minutes before heading back to work. My back and legs were killing me at this point! After 'lunch' we were put on the 'quality section' which meant larger cherry tomatoes but there were less of them and so it took longer to search for them! Grrrr!

We finished about 1:15 so it wasn't a long day and I had collected a grand total of (I think!) 11 buckets in 7 hours. Great hourly rate huh?! Keeping in mind if they think you have too many 'green' or 'red' ones then you don't get paid for the whole bucket. Seriously, who thinks these things up?! So, it's the bucket boys we have to keep sweet. Yes, the bucket boys from Bundaberg. You know, the place that hates backpackers?! Anyway, after finishing the day we had to sit around for another 30 minutes waiting to be picked up at which point I realised the van that had my bag in it wasn't coming back. My bag with everything in it. Car keys, wallet, camera, door key, food cupboard key. EVERYTHING! After getting back to the hostel and waiting around for the office to open they called the farm guy who said he'd lock it in there until tomorrow. Great, but I still can't eat, shower or have lunch for the next day. Needless to say, I was finding it very difficult not to be emotional about this, especially after feeling lonely without my parents, being tired and having done the hardest days work I've done in a very long time! People at the hostel were unbelievably nice and offered to lend me money and make me dinner. Some of whom I'd met on the farm that day, others I'd met literally 10 minutes earlier - I often forget how nice some people can be! One of my roomies came back and let me in so I could shower and then about 2 hours later the woman in the office came in with my bag. I think I told her I loved her but I'm not sure how true that really is! The girls still cooked me dinner which was so nice of them and it was a great way to make friends. However, I would've much preferred to do it the easy way without all the stress!

To be honest, the actual job isn't really too bad and once I get used to the ridiculous angles my body hasn't been in for a long time and the fact my hands will be permanently stained brown I'll be fine. The main problem is the fact that I'm spending pretty much everything I make on paying rent for a not so great hostel with pretty unfriendly owners. I've already paid for a week so I'll at least be here until then but I'm constantly looking for other places to go incase things don't change. You can get jobs with hourly rates which would be perfect and with the car I can drive to places others can't get to but I just don't seem to be having much luck! I know some of you have done this so any advice from you guys would be great! I was given a day off today which is probably a good thing being as I can barely walk and hopefully I'll be back on tomorrow so I can try and make more than 11 buckets - some of them did 30 so I have no idea what I'm doing wrong! It's like a challenge to me now! Unless I start to make a little more money though I'm not sure this slave labour is really worth another visa that I might not even use... so much to think about over the next few days!

Right, time to get on with all the other stuff I need to sort today 'cos I know I won't feel like doing any of it after work tomorrow! Hope everyone is well and any advice would be VERY much appreciated!
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