TravelStream™ news feed for member ollie2408 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/ollie2408 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 29 May 2008 21:07:58 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1211771280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1211771280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1211771280/tpod.html Thu, 29 May 2008 21:07:58 -0400 A skinny white boys journey into the big bad world!!!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

San Francisco, California, United States

San Francisco baby, oh yeah!! Well I sound excited but this isn't my first time here. Many of you may not know this but I stayed here for 2 nights before heading to Seattle as a stopover, but all I managed to do in those 2 days was read the rest of the Amber Spyglass and walk around the huge shopping centre and trying not spending a fortune in Abercrombie and Fitch, which I managed.

The hostel I wasn't surprised with having stayed in it for 2 nights before but I was surprised by my room mates, an English land just older than me called Connor and his 2 Danish bitches he picked up in Australia, or maybe it was the other way round seen as he asked to join them. These guys are touring the west coast and were soon heading out to Yosemite National Park and then on to Las Vegas. Now I didn't meet them straight away but when I went into my room I found a thong hanging on the bunk bed post, so I assumed one of them would be a fittie. However, the first one I met was more the shamu of the female world, however the other one who appeared and she was more the Ariel of the female world (the Disney character).

I can't remember there names because I only ever heard there names once, but oh well. The only problem was whenever Connor disappeared and I was left in the room alone with them they were always speaking in Danish, which actually sounds a lot like Welsh for some reason, but like when anyone speaks a different language around you, you immediately think that they are talking about you and laughing, or in this case saying 'oh he's so hot, I wonder if her wants me?' No Shamu, i'd only want you if you were deep fried.

Now keeping up my new found rule that I was not going to eat out all the time I headed to the local supermarket, not far away distance wise but up a great big hill, not the biggest but it was big and this was 25 degree heat, something us ginger people don't cope well with, just ask my good friend Prince Harry, it wasn't because of the Taliban he came home from Afghanistan, it was because it was so fecking hot and his face was becoming like a giant tomato.

In the shop I stocked up on the necessary stuff, high fiber cereal, can't be blocking hostel toilets, pasta, rice and orange juice. Now it might have been the heat or the fact every says I look about 23 but I had a crazy thought that I might try buying some beer, not loads, just a 6 pack. Now I'm at the checkout and the guy in front gets by without being I.D, but then it's my turn, and just then like Karma is trying to kick me in the face a security guard appears standing at the next checkout, panther like waiting to pounce, (I say panther instead of lion because he was a negro amigo). Anyway, I know the worst they can do is say no but still, I'm in a foreign country, one that almost considers a rubber glove search mandatory for getting though customs, so my mind was racing. She goes to scan the beer, I'm almost home free, and then she says the words that almost make my head explode 'Do you have an I.D?' So I start doing the obvious padding down of my pockets and answer with that little hint of emotion 'ah dam, I must have left it at home, can you just leave that and I'll come back later', which I definitely wasn't going to do. But then out of no where she goes 'you are over 21 right?' me standing then, dumbstruck manage to say 'yeah' in a very unconvincing manner, and then by the hammer of Thor she puts the beer through and the boy at the end puts it into a bag with my pasta, rice and high fiber cereal. I practically ran back to the hostel, like a black man in a country club for fear of the police being called and chasing me.

When I got back and had made dinner I chilled in my room taking with the guys about where they have been and what else they are going to do and for once I got to give someone advice as Connor after going to Las Vegas with the girls was going to go up to Seattle, a place I'm well rather fond of and I told him all the secrets that I knew about, the wall of gum, the Jimmy Hendrix statue, the pink door which you have to look out for because there is no sign, that leads to awesome Italian restaurant, oh crap this has just reminded me that I was meant to add him on facebook so he can tell me when he gets to Seattle, oops, just like at home where someone rings for mum and I pretend to take a message and then forget, but mum can't wait till I'm home!!!

Well as is now a custom on my first day in a new hostel I slept in till about 11am, god I don't miss working in a bakery, I'm so not going to go back there hopefully. Now when I woke up I had to walk about 25 minutes to get to the only HSBC bank in San Francisco so that I can save a precious $3. It might not seem like a lot but when you consider that in New Zealand there wasn't a HSBC bank and I lost over $30 dollars to them it is a bitch!!!

Now that I was cashed up and ready to go I found out that some of the best things in San Francisco are free. My first stop was to be Grace Cathedral, only 5 blocks, now it might not be a very touristy thing here, and the only reason I went in was because it looked very impressive from the outside, surrounded by all these towers and the cable cars everywhere there it was. I got a little treat inside, first where they ask for a $5 dollar donation but I got away with putting a $1 in the box, I'm not that mean to go in free...but still, hahaha, come get me Jesus. Second, a visiting church choir was performing at the front and it was magical, not the singing about god but there voices, they could've been singing Paranoid by Black Sabbath and still made it sound magical.

So I caught the end of there performance and then looked around the Cathedral, and it turns out that it is pretty new, the old one having been pretty much destroyed by the 1906 earthquakes and fire. So modern in fact that the church commissioned several new stained glass window with modern men depicted in them, including the first black judge of the San Franciscan Supreme Court and Albert Einstein with the window featuring his famous E=mc2 formula. Now why in the heavens would they allow Albert Einstein a window, a man who followed the works of Isaac Newton, who followed the works of Galileo Galilei, men who together basically fathered modern science and destroyed the churches monopoly on the theory surrounding the creation of the universe and they give him a stained glass window. Seems to me like the church is losing its backbone, I want them to go back to the days when someone questions them that they were beaten up and left on the street, maybe that is where the Mafia and IRA learnt there traits, from the Church??

After I'd left the Cathedral, escaping the clutches of an over zealous, obviously gay (whats happening to the church) volunteer wondering if I had any questions, I followed the cable car until I came to the Cable Car Museum, which turned out to be free aswell, my day was getting better and better. The museum was cool, as learning how the cable car has evolved over time, originally there were dozens of cable car lines, before the car helping to link the city and people, yet after the earthquake and the invention of the car and street buses the cables cars were starting to be fazed out, yet a group of San Franciscans lead fiercely by some chick managed to force a vote, to which the people said they wanted cables cars to remains, and thus becoming a symbol of San Francisco, 3 lines to this day are active, California, Powell - Hyde, Powell - Mason. I have had the pleasure of riding 2 of these all the way from start to finish but more about that later.

My next stop was a walk away, and with these hills it was becoming tiring. I mean the fact that I'm only eating enough to equal 2 meals a day, the substantial weight I think I have put on outweigh the effects of my now huge calf muscles so this was starting to become challenging, yet I wouldn't not give in and use public transport for my dollar 25 was precious. Having managed to conquer several hills I made it to my next free attraction (all this free stuff, I think I'm going to make and excellent student, and surviving on 2 meals a day, I'm going to be fine ;)

Welcome my friends to the crookedest hill - Lombard Street. Located in the Russian hills district this is a street and road descending with eight 40 degree corners and a 5mph speed limit. Although I thought this hill would have made many drivers avoid it because of its complicatedness it didn't. Driver after driver wanted a go at Lombard, many from the license plates were out of towners and I guess they wanted bragging right to there friends that they conquered Lombard. Unfortunately the footpath doesn't follow the curved road and is instead on either side, which does provide some good picture opportunities, infact many passengers would hop out to take a picture of there car on the famous street and hop back in at the bottom. I got some ok pictures but the sun which had appeared wasn't helping, I also couldn't get the necessary elevation to get a shot of the road to show the corner, this is when at the bottom I had something I would call a brainwave at the time but now it just seems silly. At the bottom was a bin with a sturdy lid and a sign post next to it...Can you see where I'm going?? Yep I climbed on top of it for a better picture, what lengths I'll go to, lol.

It was midday and I was heading to Fisherman's Wharf, time for lunch I thought and I enjoyed some delightful fish and chips. Although they were fresh, the fish and chips I had enjoyed at Watson's bay, Sydney some month and a half earlier still had an edge. Fisherman's Wharf was like the rest of San Francisco hiding many free attractions, a decommissioned World War II submarine, and battleship behind it, on display, street performers, cheesy shops to look at junk, the view of Alcatraz however one of the best value for money free attractions has to be Pier 39, watching the Sea lions have an afternoon nap. These guys are just like the ones your thinking about right now at the zoo, that clap there paws together and go 'arpa' 'arpa' for ages, but whats different is there are dozens of them, all just lying on these floating pontoons, many sleeping peacefully, others pushing others off. The best bit was 2 males, I think because they were pretty angry, unless....do female sea lions get PMS? Anyway one of them, we'll call him Kenneth, was 'ruling' the middle pontoon, right in front of the tourists and out of no where this other male, we'll call him Whitney, appeared and suddenly the noise was so loud, there wasn't much violence, they did go at each other a couple of times, but with both these guys on the same pontoon at the same end it started to lean to one side and Whitney eventually, with a little nudge from Kenneth, slip off completely into the water and proceeded to circle making 'arpa' noises for a good 10 minutes; thats where I left them.

Now my next day was pretty much the same, I had planned to walk across the golden gate bridge, one of the seven wonders of the modern world, yet because of the 30 degree heat and the cold bay water huge clouds of mist were being created, so sadly for the 5 days I was there the Golden Gate Bridge was invisible. I could have walked right up to it and not know where I was or see anything except my own hand, and throughout the day it got worse, coming further into the bay, making it hard for the boats to see aswell. So what did I do for almost a whole day, well I window shopped in some 'unusual boutiques' on Union Street and then by luck on Fisherman's Wharf I found a pier which housed dozens of old arcade games, from Packman, Ms Packman, Spy hunter, Metal Slug, Tekken fighter and even X-men v. Street fighter - a game I had played years ago at the youth club when I had gone to France with the Jones. I spent roughly 3 hours in there and it didn't stop there, they also had really old funfair amusement, ones where puppets in boxes tell your fortune for a quarter, or where you have to take part in an arm wrestler against the machine and it seems lose every time.

So there you go, that was my first 2 days in San Francisco, yet I shall not give in. I shall go on. I shall work to the end. I shall find out what else San Francisco has to offer and I swear to you I will bring you the latest 'Adventures of Oliver Oliver and Snowy!'


(Let me know if anyone gets the last part, there is a free drink in it if you do)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1210745940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1210745940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1210745940/tpod.html Wed, 21 May 2008 02:13:44 -0400 A skinny white boys journey into the big bad world!!!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Welcome to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the nicer 'America.' My first sign that the people are nicer was when i was walking towards my hostel and out of no where a random women looks at me and says 'you are a backpacker,' in an accent tinted with french. Well i was going to give her a sarcastic look seen as i was carrying a huge rucksack and looked very scruffy, but i sensed she was just making small talk so we chatted for about 5 minutes as we walked about where was good to shop and eat, and she recommended the sea wall walk in Stanley Park, and eventually i came to my street and she said goodbye. Now my hostel this time wasn't set bang in the middle of the city with all the craziest, it was about 10 minutes outside of central Vancouver and didn't even look like a hostel, just a large building in a residential district. My roomates i met straight away, an Aussie exchange student now touring before returning home, a Japanese guy whos name i'm pretty sure was Hiroshima, same as where the 'clever' americans dropped the atomic bomb, and a crazy old man whos name i don't know but overhead him telling the aussie if he walked in the park with the flowers and then ate a slice of pizza his allergys are so bad he would die. Now he is really annoying but he was travelling with his complete desktop p.c and the room got to use it free so i could put up with him, why i didn't write my blog then on a free p.c i'll never know, but its feels more backpackery knowing that it isn't free.

Well my first day here was spent just wandering around the city, something i do in every new place, to get the feel, where is best to grab a bite to eat or whats is there to see. However, unlike most places, the exception being Auckland, i didn't get the feeling that i really liked Vancouver. Sure it was peaceful with cyclists and joggers everywhere but something wasn't quite right and i still don't know why. I'd walked around most of downtown, been to visitors centre to pick up money off coupons, never again will i judge those people who sit at home cutting them out of magazines. I then went to downtowns biggest shopping centre which was absolutely rubbish. Not one shop worth looking in and then downstairs looking for something to eat in the food court everything was closed except for KFC and i was refusing to eat there after i'd had a chicken twister and then thrown up constantly on the train from Manchester. So, hungry i returned to the hostel, but not before dipping into a supermarket to pick up a couple packs of 2 minute noodles, because i really was that hungry. Now the noodles became something of a regualr meal, as for some reasons in vancouver i became very concious of the money i was spending and at 49cents i wasn't complaining, apart form the fact that on my last day i found out the noodles online provided me with 97 calories, so for a whole week i've been effectivily eating 2 meals a day.

The next morning, prompted by my Aussie roommate i ventured downstairs early enough for the hostels free breakfast which consisted of fruit bread, muffins, bagels and slices of oranges, not really enough to sustain me until lunch. So once again i was under-eating, something of a first for me. Rapidly losing body mass, i headed out to the Science World, partly because the building looked interesting, like a giant golf ball and partly because i'm a geek. I was now pleased to learn that canadians considered youths to be from 11-18, so there i was asking for a youth ticket, being told i didn't look like a youth, showing the high school dropout my driving license, the high school dropout shutting up, so far the day was looking good. Now why its called just Science World i'll never know because the whole of the first floor had puzzles on, like can you get this ring of of these chains, or can you use these 4 shapes to make a square, i think the appropriate name would be the Amazing world of Puzzles and upstairs and to your left Science!!!!!!!

It is a bit disheartening to try and complete a puzzle only to give up in disappointment then a 12 year old appear 5 seconds later completing it. Its like in Vegas where you spend several hours at a slot machine putting money into it and nothing, then some little old lady appears, plays one coin and wins the jackpot, but i guess that is life. Part of it i found really cool was the giant looking golf ball actually has a purpose. Its actually a cinema, but an awesome one at that. When your seated the screen isn't just infront of you but appears on half of the dome, and the movie is so real looking that they actually announce it saying the images look so realistic you might get dizzy. The only downside was that the movie i arrived in time for was a piece of crock about the Colorado River and how its drying up because we are using the water, yet i wanted to point out that millions need the river water to live!!!

Now given that i managed to go a whole week in Seattle, the RAINY city, without any rain, it was only fitting that Karma would get me back. So anticipating rain over the next 2 days, i used my last day of cloudy, non raininess to go to the Capilano suspension bridge, the largest suspension bridge in the world. It only takes half and hour to get there including a ferry ride for $2. Now it was nice to get out into the countryside, something Vancouver is sort of famous for i guess, and the change is so different. It was like a little rural escape, these tall trees everywhere, wood cabins on either side of the road, this is how i had imagined Canada, all i needed now was for a mounty to appear of a house telling me he'd just saved a little boy from being eaten by a bear, but he'd used non violence to subdue the bear because mountys love nature!!!

When you first enter this area, its sort of a wildlife - natural park. you learn a little about the bridges construction, how they get the cables from one side to the other, and there are also lots of references to native indians, including totem poles, now i'm sure i'm missing something as there were totem poles in seattle and now here in vancouver, but i thought native indians belonged in the central and southern states, with cowboys and the wild west?? I finally got to the suspension bridge and you can actually watch it moving in the wind, so much that a couple of asian women took one step onto it, walked 5 paces then came running back holding onto the hand rails. Now when i say its swaying i don't want to conjure the image of an Alton Towers ride, these women were just being women ;) Oh and steph, i don't suggest you come here, the bridge can only hold 2 boeing 747s without breaking and it would takes months to repair if you came....love you really.

On the bridge i took my time, asking people to take photos of me, taking photos of others, watching the river running below and despite all of the people it really was peaceful standing there. On the other side there is tree top trails to follow, sort of Ant and Dec austrailian jungle style, minus the snakes, monkeys, spiders and annoying washed up celebrities. I spent half an hour guiding my way through the tree tops, looking out at the river and the bridge, people trying to hold the camera still while taking pictures of the families. After my tree top adventure i got to wander around on the ground, passing by the salmon pond, where as they were being fed they zipped around, darting to the surface for a second and then disappearing. Then onto the 3 sisters, a set of lakes, which made me think back to Austrailia when i went out to the blue mountains and saw the 3 sisters, a set of rock pillars, and how long ago it was and how quickly time has gone.

Well my second from last day in Vancouver and i saved the best till last, the Vancouver Aquarium. Today it was raining, raining heavily, raining like a giant super dog had just had a bath and was shaking itself dry. Yet this was the day i had decided to visit the aquarium and that meant walking all the way there to Stanley Park. Now i have my anorak that mum made sure i packed, but the real problem was my trainers. I had planned to buy a new pair but at the moment i still had my really old one, made out of, i'm sad to say, something of a un-water resistant material. By the time i got tot he Aquarium you could hear me coming by the squelching of my socks. but who cares, because once again i qualified for a youth ticket and had a $1 off coupon...things were looking up.

Now i really loved this aquarium, because it had the animals that aren't what you would call generic aquarium animals. Beluga whales, haven't seen them anywhere yet here they were, probably because they are native here and not to Sydney, Australia but i don't care. These whales were awesome, especially from the underwater viewing window, they just kept on swimming past so lazily, without a care in the world, and there was none of that free willy nonsense with trying to break the glass, i mean who did that whale think he was, he had it made, fame and free food, but no he had to escape and then what does he go and do gets trapped in an oil slick and almost starves to death. The rest of the aquariums was very good aswell, there was a whole floor for tropical frogs, all these colourful critters to see, bright blues, reds, oranges, greens, the types you'd never imagin seeing.

Its fair to say this Aquarium ranks as one of the best i've been too, i'd have Sydney and Vancouver on par with each other, then Seattle, with Auckland last just because there excuse for an aquarium was some cheap knock off where you see pengiuns.

Well my last day i'm ashamed to say i did nothing. I sat in the t.v room eating junk food after living off of 49cent noodles for a week and watching something of a CSI marathon, i eventually packed my bag which is becoming harder each time, i don't know why, i haven't bought anything new....maybe its my clothes expanding from absorbing sweat or something i don't know but mum is going to have a fun time washing them when i get back haha, peace out!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1210305300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1210305300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1210305300/tpod.html Sun, 11 May 2008 21:23:40 -0400 A skinny white boys journey into the big bad world!!!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Seattle, Washington, United States

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

I don't know what it is about an American city hidden way up here in the North West but there is something that for the first time actually made me consider changing my travel plans to stay here longer, yet i don't know why.

Firstly it could be my hostel, which has to be one of the best i have stayed in so far, they provide me with free breakfast every morning, and not some crappy continental breakfast, no offence but who wants to be eating heavy ham and cheese at 8am, cough Germans, cough losers. The breakfast is all you can eat waffles, fresh fruit, which is like a luxury in America as about 1 in 20 shops actually sell it, toast with jam and peanut butter, its excellent. Then there is also the matter that for 5 nights I've been here I've had dinner for free on 3 occasions thanks to the hostel, a proper dinner with i dare say it vegetables. I'll mention that now, if there is something i miss, i won't say the most but alot, it would be vegetables, like a nice bit of broccoli, or maybe some carrot with a pie, because once again you can hardly find them in America. My hostel provides free internet too, something i would usually spend a fortune on, also my room, my bunk bed has black out curtains on so it doesn't matter when someone turns on the light at 2am. the showers are proper shower, not ones like the swimming pool where i have to keep pressing a button, but normal, house like showers!!

Now its not just the hostel as to why i love Seattle, right across the street from me is the famous Pike Place Market, where the fish fly. Now the reason the fish fly is because when you ask for a whole fillet or the whole fish a guy out the front shouts your order and the other 4 around the stall all repeated it together, then next thing you know is the guy has thrown a whole salmon 10 feet across the stall and one of the others has caught it and within seconds is filleting it. Its quite a sight to walk past for the first time and see this fish fly, and of course you then have a passerby asking the guys 'is someone going to buy that?' 'Of course' is the reply, 'its not like we throw them around for fun.' When this was said the guy takes a step to the side and then someone behind the stall shouts out an order which everyone repeats and next thing you know a fish is thrown to the guy on the outside which he doesn't catch and it ends up hitting this person or someone else random who proceed to shriek and run away from it, at which point they find out its actually a stuff toy, its a real laugh and you can see why this place is famous.

This isn't the only thing in the market, there are fruit, pasta, nuts, flowers, leather, sweets. art and jewelery stalls. Every food stall is willing to give samples so you can barely wonder 10 feet before stopping to try something. Pike Place is also home to many busker's, some don't even need to busk but do it for the hell of it, its not unusual to fine crowds on a corner watching someone hold a hula-hoop in his mouth whilst playing the guitar. Now probably the most famous thing around Pike Place market is the worlds very first Starbucks, dun dun dunnnnnn. I knew this yet on my first day here i walked right past it before turning around to cross the road and thats when i saw it, a tiny shop with a completely different logo, in brown instead of the standard green, but what surprised me most is that there weren't huge crowds around it, people didn't really seem to care, infact both local coffee shops on either side were just as busy, if not more.

Now with limited days i cracked on with my list of things to do, which was: go to the Aquarium and visit the pier, do absolutely nothing except window shop, (drink hot chocolate and watch movies because i accidentally woke up late), go to museum of flight, visit Seattle center where the experience music project and Space needle are and then go shopping and take lots of photos.

Now the Aquarium wasn't hard to find, i seem to start with the aquarium in many cities because its really easy to find, in Seattle it was insanely easy i wished my A levels had been as easy, alas they weren't, but i still managed to get to the aquarium in 4 minutes. Now when i first landed in Seattle i picked up a booklet, only because it had a map in but i realised it also had loads of coupons in for money off attractions, one was the aquarium but i used many others and I'll tell you know that i save $10 at least, I'm going to make a good student :)

The aquarium when i first entered had this huge window to look at, it was immense, 20 feet by 40 feet, and all the fish where native to Seattle and its bay but you wouldn't have guessed it because of the colors. I mean you think of cold northern hemisphere country you think ugly grey and brown fish, but swimming infront of me where dozens of orange and green and blues and an eel, from no where this random eel appeared, but some stupid school kid shouted out 'snake' clinging to his mum or dad or teacher, and i was going to kill myself because it appeared that I'd chosen the worst day possible because about 50 kids now filled in pressing themselves against the glass....little shits. So doing the obvious thing and moved on to see the octopus and squid and touch pool but in there i found the other 100 of so kids, prodding and pushing with numerous staff yelling out for them to stroke, not poke the fish.

Seriously, would you trust your 7 year old with a pan of boiling hot water, or a syringe full of crack....NO. Then why would you trust them at an aquariums touch pool, it baffles me!!!! The only highlight was the seal show where the little shits crammed onto the outside deck and when the trainer made 'manny' the seal jump he got all of the soaked...i smiled to myself on the inside.

Now the next day i decided to keep up the activities, press on but when i got up at 11am i realised that wasn't going to happen, so instead i went online and found a HSBC bank in Seattle, see if use them i save myself $4, which is a lot to me now, i could get dinner on $4. However, following the directions because i have somehow become a master a US street layouts and finding my way, its brilliant, this HSBC bank was impossible to find, i walked the whole of the avenue to try and find it but it simply does not exist which prompt a very angry e-mail to HSBC. By this time it was 1.30pm, i hadn't eaten and was starving, in the nearest coffee house, about 3 steps to my right i had for the very first time an egg, cheese and sausage bagel and it was delicious, absolutely fabulous and went well with my peach iced tea.

Now having eaten this i think i have discovered why Americans are so fat, its not all the fault of Mcdonalds, Burger King and Wendys', for i only found 2 Mcdonalds and 1 Burger King whilst walking the whole of Seattle, its because as you get your cup of coffee or whatever, you have to have a slice of cake to go with it, or you have to have the whipped cream on your hot chocolate. Its also because snack food is readily available like in a cafe they sell slices of pizza, or breakfast muffin that you don't think of it as fast food, or unhealthy. Now with my findings I'm going to get Morgan Spurlock to do 'supersize me....30 days of nothing but Starbucks.' Ok it won't be making millions but i think it'll still prove a point.

On Wednesday, once again with my trusty coupon booklet i went to the museum of flight and this time there wasn't a school trip on when i arrived so i got to take my time in the peace and quiet of the adult world. Ok that was scary, that I'm actually an adult now, i mean me how scary is that, i still can't get up for work on time without my mum telling me too and I'm legally able to vote, i can even get married.....'hello Jessica Alba', by the way everyone that is my child she is carrying, thats right we made sweet nookie in my Micra and i knocked her up. Anyway, planes...yes....well they're big and they fly....

The museum was quite good, i mean its really hard to take pictures because all the planes are either too long to get in one photo or they are hanging from the air so aswell as the plane you also get some ceiling fixtures and another plane or 2 in the shot, but i did my best. They have got some really cool planes like the SR-71 blackbird, a plane i knew straight away I'm proud to say because this is the plane the X-men fly around it, However my favorite area was the World War II exhibit with the planes of the Allies and the Axis being shown, from the Spitfire and Hurricane, to the Zero and Messerschmitt. It was good to learn how many of those Nazi boys we knocked out of the air in an iron defense of this realm, i guess I'm something of a nationalist, but in a good way i have nothing against minorities ;)

Now across the road i found out there are other exhibits of the museum including a fully functional concord and 1 of the first 3 presidential planes. You might be wondering how it can be one of the first 3, well when the president requires a new plane they are delivered in sets of 3, so if one breaks down another is ready. Also i found out the plane is only called Air Force One when the president is onboard, however if he is being transported by the army or the navy then there call signs are 'Army One' and 'Navy One' respectively, where as if its the vice - president the call sign is Air Force Two. Well there is my geeky fact for the day.

Something i forgot to mention and seen as it just came to me now, like 'the angel to Mary and baboom she was pregnant, cough yeah right cough cough, I'll tell you about it. On my very first night there once i had checked in and enjoying the free dinner, I'd sat randomly and so had everyone else and i started talking to this girl on how to make a proper tortilla wrap because she was absolute crap, and it split at the bottom and fell out, yet thanks to my experience mine was perfecto-mundo. So anyway chatting and so on with everyone else and she asks where I'm from, well i say outside of Oxford, most people know where it is, and then i add its Buckingham. Then she goes that she knows where it is because she has a friend who lives in Milton Keynes, so we carry on talking, turns out on Christmas day she was atop Mount Kilimanjaro which i found pretty impressive.

A couple hours went by and i remembered she knew someone in Milton Keynes and i asked who it was, now she says i won't know them and say 'Charlotte Lyman,' there it was, that name suddenly racing through my head, the neurons firings the nerves sending messages to my face to look completely and utterly in disbelief. This random strangers who just happened to sit next to me, knows one of my friends from my school, from my year, someone i talked to everyday and is infact going out with my best friend. Now i shouldn't have been shocked, I've met 2 people from Northampton and 2 from Buckingham, but i was, to meet someone who knew one of my friends from back home who'll probably read this; 'hi Charlotte', is just something that shouldn't happen when your traveling around the world.

This person (the reason i keep saying this person and not her name is because we got around to the introductions after about 2 hours of talking) (its Caroline by the way) was also going to Vancouver, and then the East Coast, like she'd reached into my brain and robbed me of my itinerary. She could be in this very hostel right now and i don't know...she might break into my room and smother me with a pillow because she can't stand to be without me....but its ok, i swapped beds with this old guy because he didn't want the top bunk, just means one more person of the state pension :)

For the beginning of the end of my time in Seattle, or the day before i have to leave if that confused you, i went to the Seattle center. Its not really a center but more of an area where some touristy attractions. The reasons was for the EMP, the Experience Music Project, which also got me free entry to the Sci-fi Museum underneath it...bargain. The EMP was a let down for one reason only...you are forbidden from taking photographs of anything except the 2 story high guitar tower, which is basically 200 or so guitars attached and stacked, it was really cool as its the first thing you see and just makes you standstill for a minute take it in. Immediately to my left was one of my favorite parts, the Jimmy Hendrix exhibition. Here they had dozens of his costumes and old guitars and even pieces of the ones he smashed and set on fire, they also had seats with Ipods built into the armrest and i sat there for about 30 minutes listening to Jimmy Hendrix and looking at this awesome collection.

The Sci-fi museum was amazing aswell, however i think it is targeted at audiences a bit older, i think Rob would have found it quite cool as it had all the Sci-Fi t.v characters from his childhood, but hardly any from mine, but i still enjoyed it, looking at how things have changed.

When i got back to the hostel i decided to wander around the market for a while taking pictures for all you lucky people to see when i get around to putting them on facebook, and i really enjoyed it. Usually i don't enjoy just walking around for no purpose but today i did. I ended like i do most of my days by heading to the original Starbucks, which i love, and maybe i bought someone a present there or not, we'll see when i get home ;)

So there ends my time in Seattle. Its a city I'm happy to say that I'll miss but am determined to come back to some point in my life, and if the the Green Tortoise is still serving free breakfast and dinners then I'll happy stay there again aswell. Well I'm off now to take a bus with all the other immigrants that can't get past border control at the airport and venture for the first time into the wild and wonderful world that is Canada.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1209543780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1209543780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1209543780/tpod.html Mon, 05 May 2008 03:02:47 -0400 A skinny white boys journey into the big bad world!!!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Auckland, New Zealand

Well i left Queenstown 5 days ago now, and i have to say i was rather sad, i'd been there such a long time that i actually felt part of a smelly, poor, backpacker family. But apart from that it was such a beautiful place that i make a promise now that i will return there after uni, hopefully knowing how to snowboard and i'll spend the snow season there.

On my last day i was 'persuaded' by Jay that we should all get drunk, so promptly at 4pm we went down the supermarket and everything got a crate of beer. Now with us watching Blade on t.v, all the blood and guts and everyone yelling at the t.v the beer only lasted till about 7pm, then we decided the bar was in order and since i've been in queenstown so long the barmen actually thought i worked at the hostel so all my drinks were $4 all night long...what a result!!! Now with a few more drinks in us we once again began the best game in the world....one handed pool...doubles!!!! Its an excellent game because with only using one hand everytime you pot one pool its a cause for celebration. i'm telling you this is going to be the next big paralympics event, and i think i could win gold. Not just because its against paralympians but because after 2 nights of playing it drunk i think i can brag a little and say that i am a master, matt and i were on the table for 3 games undefeated, and then lost spectaculary to Jay and Dave.

With things winding down in the bar we hit buffalo which is about 2 doors down so even drunken people can find it easily, and there thanks to some of these guys knowing somebody who knows somebody we each got 4 beers for $10, that was ace and surely enough more pool followed, however this was normal rules...which i did surprisingly worse at...i'm blaming my ginger hair. Now me moved onto world bar some of us and i bought a cocktail, however nothing is ever as it seems in New Zealand, these cocktails are served to you in china teapots, which you carry around talking to people whilst pouring yourself a drink, and although you know you look like an idiot know one cares because they are doing it too!! After wanding around chatting to some of the guys in my room matt appears next to me and shoves a teapot at me and says down it, to which I say ok, down it then find out that it was a long island ice tea, now i would like to finish writing about my night but i can only remember bits and pieces, i did get a fergburger though and i did catch my flight the next morning.


Now i got back to Auckland and i'm staying in the same hostel as before, except this time when i got to my room i found the door half hanging off the hinges, yet when i went in this didn't seem to both anyone inside. However i've seen hostel and i wasn't about to be kidnapped in the middle of the night and have my fingers cut off, so after a small amount of complaining at reception (dad you would have been proud) they sent someone down and within 5 minutes we had a working door. Now Auckland is a pretty small place so for the first 3 days i did nothing except go food shopping and sat in starbucks drinking my hot chocolate and reading my book.
However on Monday i awoke to car horns, lots of them, and i look out the window to fine all these chinese flags flying and people marching the street with signs saying not to make the olympics about there human rights record. So naturally as a guardian reader i grabbed my camera and mixed in amongst them, taking random pictures when i could until i realised they were actually just walking up and down the high street and the guys i'd followed where just walking the other way now. After becoming bored with activism i decided to do my laundry for the first time as i had no clean t-shirts and even i realised i smelt quite bad, no one else had mentioned anything though. It all went swimming till i had to put them through the dryer twice as everything was still a little wet.

My last day in Auckland and i thought maybe i should actually do something, so i thought a nice walk to Auckland Domain and a visit to the National Museum might be fun. Well i set off following a map i'd picked up and end up in what i thought was Auckland Domain but turned out to be Albert Park about a mile from my hostel, i went back to my room and studied it further and found out i would have to walk for 45minutes before i got to the Museum. Well i had nothing to do as i had finished my book (by the way 'The Other Queen' is quite a good read) so i set off and in record time of 30 minutes i was there. Now the Museum was ok, its a cross between a cultural, natural and war Museum set on three different levels so it took up some time. Now as i was walking back i was thinking about what dad had said, about why i wasn't doing a skyjump.

I thought it was took much like a bungy but as i walked past the skytower i realised i would be only meets from hitting the building and that as i came down it would be looking like i would hit the ground flat so with my credit card even handy i walked in and within 10 minutes i was in an elevator traveling at 10m per second up the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere. Now the suit they made you were is replusive - electric yellow- and with my hair there was no way i cold pull it off but still. So with 2 self proclaimed party dudes they clipped my back and front cables on, told me to look down and then on 5-4-3-2-1 to jump.

Now with those cables on its pretty hard to jump so you have to do it nervous suicide way and just fall forward, yet just as i was picking up speed they stopped me telling me to look up, because his was there idea of an action photo. After that i freefalled 182m until i landed on the bullseye. I'm glad dad bugged me because it was a total different experience, you can see the cars going past and the building on metres away like you might hit it. When i reached the ground and was unclipped they guy, also a backpacker, however he is a veteran of 2 years asked if i wanted to do it again FREE, well i wasn't going to just look a gift horse in the mouth and i jumped at the chance - literally. This time they didn't stop me after 10m so i freefell 192m to the ground, 60m higher than the Nevis Highwire Bungy, it was good!!!

Well there is a good place to end my adventure, i've left my Queenstown family behind, for the best, maybe one day when i return they'll still be there, sat infront of the T.V and Auckland is done and dusted, its now onto and Canada the US and A where i will learn important lessons for the people of Milton Keynes.

P.S - there are going to be more than the normal amount of spelling mistakes in the piece as i was rushed and couldn't use Word to Spell check, sorry to all you anal people who will be annoyed at reading this and picking out all the mistake - DAD - lol
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1208896200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1208896200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1208896200/tpod.html Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:10:36 -0400 A skinny white boys journey into the big bad world!!!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Queenstown, New Zealand

I am people no mere mortal, I surpassed the achievements of man, I have touched heaven and seen God...well that is what the certificates from the THREE bungy jumps I did say on them and I would like to think there is a little truth in them. Thrillogy, as it is known in Queenstown, is the feat whereby the 3 AJ Hackett, the father of bungy jumping, bungy jumps are done by an adrenaline searching traveler. Over the 19th, 20th and 21st of April that adrenaline junkie was me and I can tell you that I freakin loved it, it was simply amazing.

I started with the Kawarau Bridge bungy, the first commercial bungy jump in the world so I thought 'lets start at the very beginning' to plagiarize a famous nun (if you don't know who I mean then you are just retarded). Well now I arrived at the centre to be checked in and with 5 minutes was herded onto a questionable bus and driven 20 minutes away and as we crossed a very unsafe, well to my standards, bridge/road we were told to look left and as we did I saw this lonely figure fall 43meters, it was at this time I knew that I wanted to do this 100% and I couldn't wait. However as I looked around the bus not all of my companions seemed to share my enthusiasm. Now down in the bungy centre I was checked in and asked to stand on the scales, to my shock and horror I've actually put on 4kg, now I might be inclined to blame this on the fergburger but I fail to see how something that tastes so good could be so bad ;)

Outside I walked out onto the Kawarau Bridge and was told to jump into my harness, I did so excitedly but later was regretting this as these harness aren't exactly the most forgiving to a gentlemen's vegetables, its sort of like a hot bath, you should lower yourself in nice and slowly, but I thought to myself if it hurts putting it on whats going to happen as I plunged 43meters....I stood silent in prayer. As I stood there in prayer a voice called to me and a man was trying to get me to crouch under this bar and sit down, I did so quietly realizing my time had come. He took what looked like a bathroom towel and wrapped it round my legs and then took a piece of cloth and wrapped it round the towel, I was thinking I hope that isn't meant to hold me to the bungy because otherwise the lifeguards is going to have to fish a body out the water!!!! Thankfully another cable was added and then this huge bungy attached, which I later found out interestingly is made out of latex, see its not just johnnys that it is used for.

I was then helped up and told to walk to the edge. Now if you ever do a bungy or if you have before you'll know walking with you legs tied gives you new appreciation for how hard a penguins life is. However I made it to the edge and the guy said that I might get dropped into the water, I looked at him in disbelief, I was wearing a thin t-shirt, the water was just above 1 degree and my nipples could already cut glass!!! Then he said wave to the crowd, smile for the picture and then just like that I heard 5-4-3-2-1.

Now I'm not really one for hanging around, so as soon as I heard one I did a jump that looks like a cross between Jesus being crucified and a dive into a swimming pool, but I didn't care all I could feel was the air against my face and saw the water get closer and closer, but then it got further away, I couldn't believe it I didn't manage to hit the water I was so upset, but as I hung there upside I didn't care, all I could hear was my heartbeat in my head, the rush was brilliant!!!

Then as if from know where this dingy appears below me and this guy is telling me to grab onto this pole, I do so awkwardly for I am dangling 43meters upside down, but he begins to pull me in and I land on this mini trampoline and the bungy is released. We are paddled to shore having just done my first ever bungy and its something I'll never forget.

Waking up the next day I was filled with a sense of excitement for my next bungy jump, the ledge, over Queenstown, wasn't going to be a normal jump like everyone else does. This was going to be down in the black of night so I would have no idea what I was jumping into, for all I know the bungy could break and I could just hurtle toward the rock face, but what a rush it would be!

I'd previously walked up the hill to the ledge earlier in the week, but this time I got to take the cable car, yet as I was going up in this cable car I got really paranoid that it would stop and the cable would break or something stupid, for some reasons being in a cable car freaks me out, but thankfully I reached the top unharmed. Now I had about an hour to kill so I decide to go luging; now this consists of an 800meter track and me sitting in a 3 wheel type go-kart and it was legendary. It was as cheap as chips and brilliant fun, you just race down gaining speed and then brake as you come to a hairpin turn, then a banked corner where you almost tip over, I was having such a good time till you reach the older parent whom just like in really life drive in the middle of the road, or track in this case slowing everyone down, and as I went passed them on the straight I resisted to urge to do what I usually do which is stick a finger up and yell profanities at them as I pass.

At 6pm I went to the entrance of the ledge bungy and was unhappy when it was still relatively light with only half an hour till my jump, a tear came to my eye, but as I stood there watching the lights of Queenstown turn on it became deceptively dark deceptively quickly, infact in just 15 minutes the only lights came from the town below, and a little later it was time.

I checked in and made my way to the ledge, and as I gear up in the harness with caution I discover that this bungy because the cord is attached round your chest you can run and jump, even do flips off into the darkness, this was going to be good. I got all suited up and then realized that the guy who was going to be throwing me off of the ledge had actually done the count down yesterday at the bridge, so we had a little chat before once again he went 5-4-3-2-1 and at that I ran fell steam and launched myself into the abyss. 47meters later and I felt the pull against my chest as I once again bounced like a giant yo-yo and was hoisted back up and could once again hear my heart beat in my ears, it was brilliant.

21st April 2008, the big one, the Nevis Highwire Bungy. This is the 3rd highest bungy in the world and over 3 times higher than the previous 2. It was safe to say I might need a change of underwear!! Now saying that I didn't actually take an extra pair with me, thankfully I didn't need them otherwise things could've got messy. I checked in again and was weighed and I'd put on another kilogram and thought how the hell had I done that??
I hadn't had another fergburger and had been living on a backpacker's diet of instant noodles and cereal. Once one the bus our driver who was heavily tattooed and pierced lighten the mood by walking on and going 'how fucking scared are you lot', which made us laugh. We drove for about 35 minutes listening to his c.d and every lightened up especially when everyone went 'oohhh' when soulja boy was played.

Now we eventually turned off the road and onto a dirt track, now this track wound up and down a hill and it the kind you see in movies where the back end goes off the road and it falls to the bottom to bust into flames with everyone inside lost. It was going just like the movie, especially with the driver having to stop a couple times to rev the engine to make the bus move. We eventually got to the top and had a pile of harnesses waiting for us to suit up into, this time taking even more care, I mean having done 2 bungy jumps before this one I was thinking there is a pretty good chance of me becoming infertile with all the strain on my tree trunk and berries (changed the saying a bit so it applies to me). Once in we went out to the viewing deck and saw this giant pod over this canyon and I thought yeah that looks pretty safe I'll be fine, that was until the wind picked up and I actually saw it move, I swear it moved like 5 meters and thats when the nerves kicked in, I already could hear my heart in my ears and the adrenaline was pumping.

The bungy guy appeared and told us the heaviest where to go first, and I was sort of anxious because of my growing weight but thankfully there were some fatter bastards jumping so I was ok. These were the type of guys I hate, the ones jumping around going I'm gonna fuck you over you fucking bungy!! It a bungy you stupid inbred retard it can't hear you!!!! Now I was thinking that this pod would come to the viewing deck to pick us all up but as the fatties walked away they go into this metal cage next to us, no more than 2m x 4m and started to move out over the canyon. This thing looked like it had been made by a group of year 5s with pipe cleaners and tin foil, something you take back to your mum and go isn't it great and she pulls that fake smile and goes its lovely and puts it someplace in the house so everyone can see it, yet she is really thinking 'I'll 'accidentally' break it when I'm dusting and then just buy him a computer game.'

As this thought had gone through my head the others had made it to the pod and we all stood there waiting, soon enough we saw this solitary figure move out and then seconds later launched himself to what he must have been thinking to be a certain death, and as he did I count the freefall, 8 seconds he fell before the bungy cord did anything, 8 seconds he must have been thinking that nothing will stop him hitting the riverbed and disfiguring him more than 5 generations of family inbreeding already has. However, the bungy worked and he bounced away from death and then was pulled up to safety.

After the next 2 guys had gone it was time for the next lot of us to face the 'home-made' cable car and I was in the group this time. So we attached our safety cables and the cart slowly moved out over the canyon. The wind being so kind and gracious picked up and the floor of the cart I happened to point out to the other nervous jumpers was see through, so I said he look at that you can see the water which several of them did and I swear one of them started to have a mini panic attack, oh well, she was just a casualty of war.

Now we made it into the pod and to my surprise everyone wasn't huddled around in silence fearing the worst, infact pendulum - granite was blaring out of the speakers and everyone was jumping around cheering the next person on, we even suggested turning this place into a nightclub to make some extra money. Now this pod was quite safe except the only worrying thing was down the middle was a strip of see through plastic which didn't inspire confidence in some of my fellow jumpers. At one point I was standing on the plastic looking down and this guy appear slowly putting his foot onto it and I notice his hand actually holding on to my t-shirt to which I say 'dude what the hell' and his face looked petrified!!!

Now one by one the numbers whittled down till someone called out 'Oliver', this was it, the greatest battle of my time was about to take place. I was asked to sit down in what can only be called a cross between a dentists and a gynecologist's chair, and it was rather comfortable. It was here whilst being strapped in that I was told after my third bounce after jumping I would need to pull out a black strap attached to my left foot pad, now I was slightly worried partly because one guy hadn't managed to do it and been hoisted up with all the blood rushing to his face, and secondly because they wanted me after freefalling for 8 seconds and staring death in the face to remember to do that. Nevertheless I shuffled penguin style to the edge, gave a quick smile to the camera and then leapt for my life. The air rushed past, the ground got closer and it was the best experience I have ever had, the adrenaline pumping through my body I have never felt more alive, it was just fantastic.

After my third bounce I reached up and after 2 sharp tugs I was in the sitting position waiting to be hoisted up, the view although it was just of mountains was a beautiful sight for the fact that I survived Thrillogy, The Kawarau Bridge, the Ledge and the Nevis Highwire Bungy.

Its sufficient to say I went out and got shitfaced in the bar afterwards where Brian, Matt, Jay and I, in a semi-drunken state, played a bit of one handed pool...probably the greatest game ever invented.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1208572200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1208572200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1208572200/tpod.html Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:23:05 -0400 A skinny white boys journey into the big bad world!!!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Queenstown, New Zealand

Well my dedicated readers, it has been some time since my last blog and I bet you are all ready for the next one like a crack addict is ready to mug for his next fix :)

The first thing I think you all need to know is I've fallen in love. We love each other so much I can bear to be away for to long. Her name is Fergburger!!! This place is one of a kind and serves what has to be the best burgers in the world, so delicious and brilliant and they have burgers that make your mind boggle. The names aswell are brilliant, Little Lamby, Oh Bambi, The Mr.Big Stuff, A Big Al, the Codfather. They are all so nice that if I get the chance I'm going to take one of these with me to the US and take a detour to some backwater state where you can marry your own sister or mother, and I will marry the burger it is that good, and the best thing is Fergburger is open till 5am and then opens again at 8am, I only ever have to go for 3 hour with the fear of not having a Ferg.
Well I'm staying in what has to be the best hostel so far, by a long way. The guys here are all brilliant but best of all is on the ground floor we have a nightclub joining onto the building, and its absolutely ace, already had a few um wild nights in there.

Now my room when I first arrived was excellent, it had 5 hot girls my age and 1 not so hot girl (you know there is always 1 ugly friend in the group, you know like the 1 they bully to make themselves feel better, if you can't think of anyone like that in your group...its you!!!!) But to my dismay after 2 nights they all left to be replaced by there older looking versions, one of whom was something of a whale, free willy took a detour to New Zealand I thought, she was massive!!!
Thankfully I was on the top bunk, otherwise watching the bunk bed trying to support her and then fail could've been quite painful for me!!! Now these guys I didn't spend much time with but I found out 1 of them is an absolute idiot who I wanted to smack in the face when she started whining about her phone bill, here is how it went..."Oh my god my phone bill is 1800quid this month and I don't know how, it was only 800quid last month, and I only text my boyfriend and my parents like 5 times everyday!!!!" Then the dumb bitch had the nerve to make fun of fact that I said all I was going to do today was watch TV and read my book, so after showering I said as leaving the room, "what you don't realise is by doing nothing all day I still have money to eat." yeah take that I can still eat food, which she won't be doing for several weeks, hahaha.

So I know I'm in the adventure capital of the world but to make sure I can do everything I've had to spend my first week doing inexpensive activities. Mainly I have become part of the TV room family, Kimberly, Brian, John, Matt, Madeline and myself, a select few of us who decide what to watch and congregate at around 11am when we wake and all huddle with the giant pillows eating cereal, drinking questionable tea and cheering Jeremy Kyle as he tell someone this is the Jeremy Kyle show so sit down!!! I have also taken to invading the local library instead of buying books where I'll sit there for several hours reading half a book a day, and it is very cost effective.

I am happy to report however that yesterday on Thursday 17th April I went on the Shotover Jet, my first Thrill Therapy activity. Now this jet boat is powered by 2 buich engines, does 95kph and can do 360 degree spins. This jet was immense, I sat right at the front and tell you now the distance the driver, called Jamie (Jen you would've have liked him, lol) got from the rocks was breathtaking, it was literally a rulers length away from the edge. I'm also happy to report to you, my readers, that I have 3 of the best bungee jumps booked for the next 3 days; it is going to be amazing. All booked for me by the hot girl at the travel desk here, who might have actually been flirting with me (but thats a guess, I can't tell you for certain) but she did tell me to come back after each one and talk about it with her to see which is best ;)

Now on this Thursday my roommates once again changed and now I have 7 guys in my room (imagine the smell). The guys are all alright and they invited me to play some drinking games with them and it turned out to be a right laugh, strangely even though I'd never played the games before I won all of them and stayed rather sober, until they all realised I was winning and then all challenged me and in space of 20 minutes I'd gone through half a bottle of vodka, I would like to say the rest of the night was brilliant but I don't remember anything after 2am so I can't.

Today my TV room family and I enjoyed Jeremy Kyle and super nanny before we all disappeared to make it look like we'd actually done something today, all I did was do some food shopping which I must in much need of because trying to make my dinner out of an onion, a bar of chocolate, an apple and fruits of the forest jam was not going to turn out well but I'm all stocked up and made myself a delight beef curry, it however does not compare to M&S chicken curry by a long way, its fare to say I won't be eating M&S style food for a long time to go yet, (With no M&S style food I don't know if dad would be able to survive out here)

I'm Oliver Morris signing off....You stay classy San Diego.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207582260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207582260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207582260/tpod.html Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:11:24 -0400 A skinny white boys journey into the big bad world!!!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Auckland, New Zealand

Hellllllooooo from Auckland my dedicated viewers!!! This is the first travel Blog coming to you from outside of Australia!!!

I landed here, the City of Sails at around 15:00 on 7th April 2008. I made my way to the hostel by a shuttle bus by a man in a waistcoat who looked like he was out of Faulty Towers, not Basil but just some random old guy like an extra (the reason I think for these thoughts is I watch an episode during the flight. But anyway the old geezer got me to my destination no problem and I already liked the look of my Hostel. It's an old tower block just off of the main street and I was pleased to learn underneath it is a popular backpacker nightclub called Globe. Now back to the Hostel, I had booked a 6 bedroom shared room basically because it was the cheapest, however I thought that I had been hood-winked somehow when as I entered the room I found out that I was the only one staying in that room. What a lonely thought, 6 beds and I got to pick which ever, now I don't know if I'll ever be in a position like that again so I'll tell you now I went around and read my book on every bed for an hour or so. Now see the brilliance to my plan is that the mattresses are really soft and I learnt that the arse imprint actually stays there for quite awhile, at least when I woke up after 12 hours I could see that none of the mattresses had returned to normal. Now I'm not sure if this is just the mattresses but I have the impression that maybe I am carrying extra weight. I don't see how seen as I am living like a snake, eating only once a week or so but I swear I may now have some extra baggage :(

Now on my first and last day in Auckland before I fly down to Queenstown I explored the city and immediate found the Sky Tower, the highest Tower in the southern Hemisphere, how long I hear you ask, well about 2 minutes seen as it is right behind my hostel, so it is pretty safe to say I'll never get lost. I also explored the high street and noted there are 3 Burger Kings, 3 Starbucks, 2 Ripcurl shops and numerous others of the same chain, so finding some 'variety' here is going to be hard.

I'm off to sleep now as I've got to be up for 5am to fly, night night and I'll write soon!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207234260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207234260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207234260/tpod.html Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:31:24 -0400 A skinny white boys journey into the big bad world!!!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Sydney, Australia

Well this is going to be my final entry from Australia and it makes me slightly sad, why, some may say its because I'm emotional, others will say I'm gay, but I guess its because I've been here for 2 weeks and it was my first hostel so I feel some kind of attachment, like this was a second home. I won't bore you with a detailed description as I mentally visualize my time at this hostel but will instead give you a tour through my minds eye back to the day when I climb 134 meters into the sky and looked out and thought 'wow', this was the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb.

Well its the 3rd April 2008, the day I decided to climb the bridge and as I woke up with excitement mixed with anticipation mixed with the urge to really go to the toilet after drinking too much the night before I realized there was something else I was meant to remember about this day. I dare to say my best ideas come to me in moments of relief but I'm glad to say this one came after that, I realized the 3rd was also my mums birthday, her 50th to be exact, but you see the joy of being in Australia is although it was her birthday here, England is far behind time wise that it was still the 2nd, so I still had a whole day before I had to worry about calling her....ah the bliss of time zones, the only time I think they've ever been useful!!!

Now when I had originally gone to book the climb at the reception desk I had planned to do it on Friday afternoon, (I wasn't going to do it at dusk because it costs more and whilst I'm away I'm being a cheapo) but Brad sat behind the desk said he'd check the weather (I was thinking what is the point man, its Australia - now say that to yourself in a Jamaican accent because I did) but he went right ahead and said Thursday would be better 'not a cloud in the sky'. So it fair too say when I walked out onto the deck and saw the sky above Bondi was litter with cloud that I may have said some uncalled comments about Brad under my breath...also I had failed to notice the 2 old Italian ladies sitting at the table playing cards...oops. Anyway back inside I packed my back and set off to the bus stop, its also fair to say at this point my heart was not hopeful of the sky clearing, I even took the chance of praying to Zeus, Buddha, Allah, Osiris, Poseidon, Mohammed, Ra and what the heck Jesus as well that the sky would clear, because I wasn't about to waste money...my HARD earned money on nothing.

Now the bus journey took longer than usual because of the insane amount of people trying to get onto the bus, I don't know why, I guess 10am is the Australian rush hour, but I finally got down to the harbour at 11am and now had to wait around for 2 hours until my time, so I did the touristy things, got some more pictures of the Opera house with lots of clouds, walked the botanical gardens where there were lots of clouds and tried to work on my tan with lots of clouds. So after I while I grew hungry and went in search of food, finding a small cafe which actually sold fruit salad, and they did what I would consider to be a large portion, now that has to be large, Robert sized one might say ;) - if he doesn't read this no one tell him otherwise he'll hurt me in some way.

But as I sat outside watching seagulls scrap for the watermelon seeds I had discarded I noticed that the clouds above Sydney were now only over the Bay about 2 miles away, towards the sea, (I'm about to steal some words from Gandalf) I exclaimed to myself 'hope is kindled'.

I still had an hour to go and at this rate the clouds should be out to see and then that would leave its sad to say as Brad had predicted, a clear sky, and I'm happy to report as I sat outside the Bridge climb office at 12.30 the sky was blue, perfect, lovely amazing blue. My thoughts were turned to the frightened lot I had just glimpsed marching out of a side down in what looked like full military kit and jumpsuits, this I realised that is what I would be forced to wear. I could just hear dad in my head as if next to me saying, 'yuck what ghastly colors', why couldn't they have made them royal blue or something, you know, would have looked better.'

Promptly I made my way into the reception area at 1pm, and after showing them my reservation slip I was told to wait for 10minutes in this pen, sort of like pigs at an abattoir I felt, especially seen as the fatty bon bon from England was next to me, and what a mouth she had on her, I tell you if I was her father I'd be in jail for assault causing actual bodily harm, section 47 (correct me if I'm wrong Steph). Anyway, whilst waiting I looked at the pictures of all the famous people to have climbed the bridge and thought why do they get there picture displayed in this big hall? Did they pay more? Probably not, infact because of there fame they probably were let in free. That is something I would like to touch upon just now, why is it if you have fame and more importantly wealth you get stuff given to you for free, it just doesn't make sense!!!!

So later in the 'pen' and instructor named Adam joined us to get us to sign a long form stating that if for some reason we fall off of the harbour bridge because our belt was faulty its not there fault and they insist that we tampered with it. However as many of you know I'm not one for reading things through properly so I promptly signed on the dotted line. Also to my amazement Adam said he would have to breatherlise incase we were drunk and tried to climb, I imagined to myself this drunk Brit waltzing in and slurring 'you'll let me climb the bridge, hiccup, we own you' and shaking his fist fiercely in the air, apparently people have tried to do this 134 meter climb over the limit, I however to the surprise of many of you was not over the limit :)

(In this paragraph I would tell you about how we got our gear etc etc and learnt everyone's names, which I cannot remember but I'm growing short on time, I will tell you though for convenience that our guide for the climb was 'Chris' and looked and sounded very much like my old driving instructor.)

So as Chris lead us out onto the beginning of the bridge after being marched through the street like 18th century criminals we were about to latch on and begin our climb, he told us make sure you're next to someone you like because you're going to be spending 3 hours between these 2 people.' I was expertly positioned 2nd in line, with the very hot and delicious Italian 'Julie' in front of me, which seen as I would be having to be staring at someone's arse for a while made sense (how I didn't get into Oxbridge amazes me)

So we began our climb and as we walked along Chris told us many interesting facts about the Sydney Harbour Bridge, many of which I wish I could recollect to baffle you all with however I did remember the ones that I thought important. Like as he was telling us the Australians in there infinite wisdom misunderestimated (a brilliant Bushisum) the cost of the Bridge and had to borrow 10 million from the British Government, hence making us part owners of the Bridge, a fact everyone just smiled politely, except I chirped in "Oh yes Britannia", I don't think anyone else found it very funny but long live the Queen.

Now the scariest part of the climb is not the fact your 134 meters in the air, nor the fact that the wind was so powerful that I thought hurricane Katrina had finally given the poor souls of New Orleans a break, but to get to the actual start point on the arch of the bridge you have to climb 4 ladders, almost vertical and as you do your head appears with cars flashing past and the immediate reaction is to shove your head down because in a movie-esq style you believe one will hit you, and then the next ladder up halfway there and the 2.00pm train comes hurtling by shaking you till you almost lose your grip...I tell you I have never been more scared!!!

But in a matter of minutes the rest of the group had joined us on the arch and already the view was breathtaking, it gave a whole new dimension to Sydney, one I couldn't achieve from kayaking or standing by the harbour, it was amazing. Now because my group was so amazing we got to the top with no other group there which gave us extra time to just stand there and no matter how many times I turned from side to side and looked again it just stayed the same amazing view, it was great. Now at the top Chris once again enlightened us with facts, one being that some people propose to each other at the so called kissing tower, which you walk under and is suppose to bring luck to the relationship, he told us some 400 people had popped the question, and of course yours truly shouted through the wind 'How many said no?'. It turned out to be around 60 people had said no, some even saying yes, and then saying no back on the ground because they hadn't wanted to embarrass them in the group.

So we made our way back down, 2 hours after we began and I am now the proud holder of a certificate and a group photo to confirm I have climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Now back at the hostel after I'd had dinner and read my book I returned to my room to find an odd lump in the bed above me, I was contemplating hitting it with a big stick and seeing what happened but the problem of where to find the big stick appeared. Instead I decided to sleep and 10 hours later found out it had a name of Jake (I think) and he was from would you believe it Northampton, and had worked for a time in Milton Keynes, Now that is freaky. But we got talking and I soon realised this guy was basically an older version of me, it was scary. He had read the Da Vinci code and believes it could have happened, and I believe he also reads the guardian, also many of you will remember what I said about seeing no fat Aussie girls and how the fat ones were exercising, well he said exactly the same thing, and he even quoted Galileo at one point. So here it was on my final night in Sydney I had found someone who wanted to grab something to eat and then he suggested going to a bar!! Its ironic how on my final night this happened, and even though I had to be up at 6.30am we still knocked back a few, ending up in this cool bar showing the latest Quentin Taritino movie and we just sat there and talked till midnightish when I called it a night.

And that I'm sad to say concluded my adventures in Sydney Australia. I was sad to leave but I'm now heading for New Zealand where green pastures lie, so you never know, I might meet someone from Milton Keynes here....infact I hope I don't.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207181700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207181700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207181700/tpod.html Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:43:32 -0400 A skinny white boys journey into the big bad world!!!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Sydney, Australia

Wednesday 2nd April 2008. Time 10.16am. Time I am meant to leave to go kayaking 10.30am. Now I'm sure you can see where this is going, the old Oliver routine of needing to wake up for something and I almost always oversleep, its happened with work many times and the excuses I used I'm sure where never believed but I got away with it, ones like, 'oh my car wouldn't start so I had to get the mechanic next door to help,' or 'the road on my way to work was flooded...I had to find another route,' and its the fact that these excuse were believed that I gave myself the name at work of 'untouchable'.

However today I wasn't at work, these excuses would not help and neither would blaming the guy at work who didn't speak English, I had just 14 minutes to wake myself up, get my breakfast and then make my self look beautiful, which in the hostel consists of splashing water on my face and then brushing my teeth, maybe a quick spray of deodorant, then off to my room to find something that smells reasonably clean. I'm proud to say that I did that all in 13 minutes giving me 1 minute to admirer myself in the mirror, man I am brilliant, ha-ha.

Down in reception I found a 'basset's' all sorted bunch of 7 people waiting on the minibus to go. We had the slightly heavy set Dutch ladies, a German man with a head oddly resembling an over sized balloon, an American duo who at first I thought were a couple (later I was to find out they were brother and sister) and a German girl with really big boobies (thank you Rob for teaching me what is really important in life) (everyone else...don't worry I do learn her name and I don't just refer to her as big boobies girl).

After 5 minutes of standing there in silence, sort of like an episode of Eastenders where 2 unlikely people had just announced they were sleeping together, my thoughts turned to the Americans, one of the hostel crew arrived in what could only be described as the oldest working vehicle in Australia, it looked as though it could have been a hippy van and the smell inside definitely supported my idea, but the windows open and speeding down the aussie streets the smell was gone and Sam our guide from the hostel was telling us that we had a choice between small faster kayaks or the longer slower ones, she said if we had experience we could go for the smaller ones and I thought back to the days of my kayaking experience.

Ah yes many of you might not know this, but it was years ago during the summer, when I was 11 or so, my parents would drop me and my sister off at willen lake on the water sports week, I guess they got guilty about always dumping us off at my Auntie Jackie's and Uncle Peter's, I mean imagine having your own 4 kids to handle, I mean the Jones girls are no easy task now, but then at 7 in the morning my sister and I appearing on your doorstep with my mum still in the car waiting to make sure we got inside ok...sometimes I swear she didn't even wait for that. Anyway back to Kayaking, so when she asked if I had experience I just said.... 'YES I do', so I became experienced. I was impressed that I was actually the first one on the water and found my equilibrium or balance for you dumb people, quite quickly, however just as quick as I had found my equilibrium I was joined by big boobies girl, who I took at this time to ask her name (more for your benefit than mine) and it was Maria, like the singing nun, however this one had to clean the hostel instead, hahaha.

We were quickly joined by everyone else and we were away, navigating anchored boats in the bay we were heading towards shark island, an island with a view of the opera house, harbour bridge and city, the island had been purchased by the national trust as apparently that view is worth the couple million they spent for it, and let me tell you it really is. Many people have paid thousands just to be married on this island and at new years you have to pay $400 which is 200quid just to get on the island to watch the fireworks.

But we quickly left Shark Island, the wind was picking up and we had to make it across to Milk Beach. Now we were told we could go as quick or as slow as we liked, I opted for the more gentle experience of paddling ahead then slowing down and waiting for the others, as this we Sam (our guide) said at least she'd be able to take some pictures of us. Now the balloon headed German raced ahead and he made it to Milk beach 5 minutes ahead of everyone else, and I thought 'ha-ha he is going to have a load of pictures on his c.d with none of him' yet I'll tell you now that when I checked the c.d back at the hostel, there are more pictures of him than anyone else on the trip, 'I thought how in hell did he do it....must've been the head.'

When we landed on Milk beach we went up onto this grassy area and Sam told us every group had to have a silly picture, she said this one we would all do star jumps at the same time, and then someone asked, what I thought, was a stupid question 'what is a star jump?' and of course it was the Americans that had asked it, I smiled to myself the irony that the American didn't know the actions for a simple exercise. So there we all were jumping up and down, now in the photos it looks like I'm not doing it right, however everyone else put there hands straight up in the air, I was doing a star jump, it therefore looks like my hands are out of sync, but I WAS the only one in time and doing it properly!!!! Just thought I'd clear that up now.

After the poorly executed star jump photo we went back to the bay we had started at and dragged our kayaks out of the water, my arms or chicken bones as many of you back home have referred to them as were feeling exhausted but I managed the task, and was rewarded with a kings ransom when told we could finish the steak from the beach parties BBQ that were there now, that I immensely enjoyed to end my days adventure.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207043160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207043160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ollie2408/1/1207043160/tpod.html Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:49:38 -0400 A skinny white boys journey into the big bad world!!!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Sydney, Australia

Good evening to you all back home, its 9pm here and I was bored so I thought I would update you all on my adventures.

Well on Monday morning my room mates, Tom and Lewis, were leaving for Honolulu. It was an almost sad moment for these guys were the first people I'd gotten to know out here and we had a bit of fun....however emotion was swept to the side when I remembered that I was going to the ZOO, Taronga Zoo to be precise, the No.1 tourist attraction in Sydney (see the Harbour Bridge and Opera House are just there to draw the posh, fancy people in....but then the rest of us paupers realise there is a Zoo and all we want to do is see the pretty animals :) )


Now the brilliant thing about Taronaga Zoo is that to get there instead of a boring bus or train journey you actually get to take a ferry...and where does this ferry leave from I hear you ask?? Circular Quay which is right next to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge and you sail right past them so the picture I have, especially of the Opera House are really good. Anyway back to the animals, I arrived at the Zoo then and straight away its filled with children trying to drag there parents one way and the other, the boy wanting to check out the snakes whilst the girl wants to look at the Kangaroos, I really felt sorry for them and I peacefully looked at my map and in a fashion almost identical to my father I planned out a route around the Zoo to see all the animal...Oh dad you would have been proud!!!

The first thing I did was to have my photo taken with a Koala, and although you have to pay extra it is worth it to get up close with these guys, you don't realise that they are pretty big and there claws are huge. One thing I did learn when having my picture taken with the Koala....my beard is beginning to look rather scruffy, sort of between a weekend of not showering and tom hanks castaway is what it is like around now.

So I left these sleepy guys (if it wasn't an offence to touch Koala in NSW I would have hit 1 of em and said "oi you, I am paying so wake the f**k up") and I moved on to the reptiles. Now these guys were seriously cool looking, especially the Komodo Dragon, these guys are the biggest lizard you can find and he/she looked beautiful, just amazing and after leaving he/she I went into the Reptile Tunnel to check out some creepy crawlies, whilst I was in there taking a picture of this HUGE snake the thing I had been dreading happened...the low battery warning on my camera began to flash, and why here and now, when I needed you most, but fear not....with the mission impossible music playing in the background or my head in this case I whipped out the zoo map and frantically began searching for the gift shop...found it...approximately half a click south and I was away, 7 pounds later and I was the owner of a disposable camera and ready to rock and roll...again!!!

Right moving on from the reptiles and I was on to the giraffes, now the good thing about this picture was is that with these guys you can actually get a picture of them and the Harbour Bridge and Opera House all in one, how cool is that!!! Well I now moved on to the Wild Asia area, this is what I was looking forward to, because in the first enclosure, walking toward me as if from no where was this ma - hu - sive tiger. Tigers I have always loved, since watching wild cats on BBC2 as a child I thought them as legendary, absolutely great.....but of course these Chinese guys appear and start chatting away and I think to the Tiger "great, they think its dinner time ;)

I also found after consulting my map the red pandas, these cool critters, imagine if you will a dark ginger cat back home, kind of like my hair, now imagine the cat 3 times bigger and 100 softer looking and you get the red panda, I just hope my pictures actually come out, fingers crossed.

So after seeing these giant alley cats I moved on to the birds, now birds don't really impress me much unless they happen to be birds of prey, none of this I'm a colorful pigeon look and me!!! So I was in luck when I strolled past the soon to begin bird show, and I thought what the heck why not. Now this show only lasted 20 minutes or so but I was sitting right at the front and I loved it, I was the closest person in the audience to the peregrine falcon, the hawk and could even feel the air move and the Australian Eagle flew down just over my head.

The only thing I was slightly down about was that no one Kangaroo was standing up. Now we all have in our head the picture from Winnie the poo, of the Kangaroo standing up, but not one of them were.

I think I've told you enough about the Zoo for now and will wrap it up, I'm sure i'll mention it again sometime but I still have much more to say.

Tuesday today and I thought I'd keep my adventures going by taking a trip to Watson's Bay. Now its said to take a bus there however looking at the map I knew I could cover the distance, that it wasn't that far...boy how wrong I was going to be. I can tell you now that the map isn't to scale, it took me 2 hours to cover the distance a 20 minute bus journey does, but I'm glad because the views I got along the way I don't think any other tourist will have seen, plus some of the streets looked like they were right out of neighbors, almost like being there get in!!!!

Oh and on another note what I forgot to say about Sunday was that Tom, Lewis and I saw someone from Neighbors...Boyd I think he is called or at least thats what Tom said, so I saw my first celebrity.

Watson's Bay, I eventually saw the lighthouse indicating that after my walk I was somewhere close, I just had to keep going because at the end I knew would be 'world famous' fish and chips apparently? When I eventually made it I did think what was all the fuss about, cool its got a park and a fish and chip shop, but as you walk further into the area you see that the backdrop to this still and peaceful bay is that of the frantic and loud Sydney city, and as you sit there on the each of the pier you realise that these 2 sides of the bay are the exact opposite of each other, this is the Yin and Yang of Sydney.

Anyway after that sentimental moment I realise that I was famished and quickly set about finding the world famous Doyle's fish and chips...not hard as this is the only fish and chip organization here, they have something of a monopoly on the area!!! But the grub was never-the-less delicious, and I would recommend a trip here to try it, nothing at all like a local take away. After lunch I walked around the area and the detailed paths and found that one of the lead to a local nudist beach, one of very few in Sydney, however as I walked past on my way to other 'attractions' I realized that my hopes of seeing Jessica alba rising out of the water with the sun glancing off of those beautifully sculpted breasts was not to be so...why....everyone on this nudist beach was male = what patric lemagnen loves to see!!!

So I continued on and eventually got to what would have been a quality looking lighthouse...if there hadn't been a load of scaffolding around it at the time, so I was pretty bummed. I returned to the town and with my girlishly like calf muscles almost withered away by walking to Watson's bay, I opted for the bus home, taking a meager 15mins to do what I'd done in almost 2 hours.

Never-the-less I returned back to the hostel now accompanied by a large dominos pizza, which I bought with a coupon costing me only $6 = 3quid :) and I sign off now telling you that I am about to do something that only us English can do in that great, almost legendary sense....I'm gonna make myself a cuppa and read my book.

Thank you and Good Night
]]>