seat32's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member seat32 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/seat32 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:18:56 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com First night-didn't have to unpack the tent-woohoo! — St Goar, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1190680680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1190680680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1190680680/tpod.html Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:18:56 -0500 12 weeks on a bus with 38 strangers travelling through 20 countries...a walk in the park!
St Goar, Germany

Day 1: Sun 23 Sept 2007: London->St Goar
Border Count = 4 (England->France->Belgium->Germany)

Didn't get much sleep last night - got into hotel room just before 11:30pm & was out again at 6am to go catch the bus. Couldn't see the bus by the tube station tho I found someone else with a rucksack there looking for it too (Emmett) & a guy in a van told us it was across the bridge so like the eejits we looked like, off we headed. We were near Waterloo station by the time we couldn't walk any further so admitted defeat and rang OzBus for the precise location of the bus then got a taxi from Waterloo back to where the bus was & only arrived there almost an hour after the scheduled departure time! Turns out we were the last to arrive since the last passenger had slept through his alarm clock so will meet up with us in Prague instead.

Aside: I found out later on in Kathmandu that "the guy" was actually Barry, another OzBus passenger and he did actually think the bus was over there. I still didn't forgive him though. Remember how much those rucksacks weighed before you judge me.

The press were there at the bus and lots of people had family to say bye to, so the departure was pretty chaotic. A couple of the press even came on the bus with us as far as Dover. There were mutterings of having a singsong for the camera but I think they left it too late yippee.

Our guide introduced himself: Leighton. He's Irish...as are about half the passengers on the bus! Jean-Peal-the main driver-is Belgian and Marcus-the second driver-is a Kiwi.

Tonight we're staying in St Goar in the Rhine Valley in Germany. That's 4 countries in 1 day: England, France, Belgium, Germany. We'll be staying with a guy called Herman the German.

Lots of time on the bus today: 7:30am to about 7pm. They promise it won't be so long every day - that we're trying to get through western Europe fast since most people will have seen a lot of it & so we can get to the interesting stuff. The bus itself is a nice modern Euopean coach & yes, it does have air con. Pic attached.

There is a work rota of cookies, packers, coach cleaners that people were assigned to on the bus today...there isn't a job for everyone so I'm off the hook for now.

Herman's place was meant to be camping but he offered an upgrade to beds in bunkhouses/caravans for €1 so most people (me included) jumped at the chance to put off sleeping on the ground for one more night. Only a couple of people camped.

Herman provided us a great meal of schnitzel and chips and then there was wine tasting afterwards. Wine isn't my thing & there are a couple of other non-drinkers too so I wasn't alone. Much wine & much merriment was had by most of the others culminating in one guy smashing a glass over his head just to prove he would - Herman wasn't impressed.

During the night, one of the girls didn't quite make it to the bathroom before puking on the floor quite near my bed! I was in my sleeping bag up on a top bunk & I could hear someone else looking after her so I just scrunched down into my sleeping bag and tried not to throw up too.
]]> Couple of hours stopover in Heidelberg — Heidelberg, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1190711102/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1190711102/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1190711102/tpod.html Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:15:43 -0500 12 weeks on a bus with 38 strangers travelling through 20 countries...a walk in the park!
Heidelberg, Germany

Day 2: Mon 24 Sept 2007: St. Goar->Heidelberg->Prague
Border Count = 5 (Germany->Czech Republic)

Woke up to the unpleasant sight of last night's puke still all over the floor. None of the girls can remember who did it but luckily a couple of them cleaned it up before Herman/Leighton killed us all over it.

Our first OzBus breakfast was toast & cereal & tea prepared in a lean-to shed. We washed our own dishes & "flapped" them dry - not an easy feat in late Autumn in the Rhine Valley!

Big drive again today - from St. Goar to Heidelberg to Prague. Heidelberg was a pretty little town - castle, church, bridge, cobbled streets. I can't figure out why my new camera won't save to the SD Card - I spent part of the 2 whole hours we had in Heidelberg in an internet café sending a panic-ridden email to my sister (the source of said camera) to get her to check the manual. Will use my mobile phone to take pics instead...it's 2M so OK but not great for "trip of a lifetime" pics. Tried updating my travelog via mobile phone too so I don't have to find internet cafés all the time. Lets see what happens.

Back on the bus to Prague now. Weather is warm & sunny during day so hiking boots overkill but no space for them in rucksack. Chilly at night and in morn tho!

Straight through the border into Czech Republic with no delay & no checking of passports - our bus driver is magic!

We all had to introduce ourselves on the microphone up the top of the bus so now we have a better idea of who everyone is. I'm finding it hard to remember everyone's name...there are about 35 of us with another 4 to join us in Prague! There are a few really young gap-year students about 18/19, most people fit into the 20-30ish age range I think, there are about half a dozen people that are 50+ and the rest are somewhere in between. It's a good mix.

Rolled into Prague campsite about 7pm. First night camping & we get to set up in the dark (the campsite isn't too well lit). The toilets are way over one end of the campsite & the showers are over the other side & you have to walk through where another big group have decided to camp. Practical - not! Dinner was bangers & smash - hardly gourmet but very welcome. The younger crowd headed into town afterwards while the rest of us had a singsong around in a circle - sans the campfire tho.

Today is the first day that it felt like this trip will take me to places unknown. Czech Republic is the first place where the signs are unreadable.
]]> Luxuriating in Sydney — Sydney, Australia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1197849960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1197849960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1197849960/tpod.html Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:47:36 -0500 12 weeks on a bus with 38 strangers travelling through 20 countries...a walk in the park!
Sydney, Australia

It's great to be in Sydney, staying in the same place for a few weeks. Many thanks to my cousin Kevin who has donated his bed and to his flatmates who have to put up with me. I walked in to the smell of their real Christmas tree which has suddenly made me realise Christmas is coming soon! That sneaked up on me :)

Will be uploading photos and text over the next few days so check back next week if you want to waste an hour or two :)


--------------------------------------------
Update below posted on 18 Dec 2007
--------------------------------------------
Hiya,
I've been really busy here in Sydney. Some of us have been meeting up in the mornings in StarBucks in town so that's made me get up at 9am every day since I got here!! (been awake long before then out of habit anyway, but it's the principal of not getting a lie-in :) ) We're starting to run out of touristy stuff to do together and people will start drifting home/away from here tomorrow so these daily meetings are another "cherish them while they last" thing like the last few days on the OzBus.
 
Here's my journal entry for Sat 15/Sun 16... 
Our lunch stop on Sat was in a town called Holbrook which has a submarine half sunk into the ground in the middle of it! I think someone said that it's commander lived there & the town was named after him. 

 
We didn't arrive in Jindabyne until about 8pm.  Dinner was booked for 8:30 and we didn't leave the campsite for it until almost 9pm as usual. Aussie Dave and Nat and Mac were there to meet us for the evening & Mac rejoined the bus the following morning.


That last night we had a party with drink we stocked up on at lunchtime, and an awards ceremony where people had nominated awards for each other like "best accent" or something. Gordon and Andew were the comperes and they were excellent...so funny...not that I can remember what any of the awards actually were! 

 
 The next morning on the bus was quiet as usual. We had skipped the morning walk that would have meant getting up at 6am and leaving camp at 10am, so we left camp about 8:30am instead. Everyone woke up shortly before we pulled into Canberra where it was lashing rain. We visited Parliament building where we dived straight for the Cafe for elevenses for some/breakfast for others before wandering about the building.


We decided to skip the War Memorial since we would get soaked & headed straight for Sydney via Goulbourne where we would lose Maz...her brother & his family lives about an hour away from there so it was the easiest place for them to collect her. We ate lunch while we waited anxiously for them to arrive...Maz's excitement was palpable and contagious. We had to endure the whole of lunch thinking "that's them!....no it's not. That's them!...no it's not" but luckily they did arrive before we left so we didn't have to leave Maz all alone. It was our first taste of leaving someone behind; it really made it hit home that in just a few hours' time we'd be saying goodbye to each other. Had to keep reminding each other that for most of us, it's just for a few days...Jimmy & Andrew's party is on the 19th & most of us will be there. We played some music...almost had an iPod war...and had a fairly festive atmosphere as we drove the last few hours from Goulbourne to Sydney. 

 
We pulled in to the scenic park across from the bridge & opera house about 5:30pm I think. It was raining in Sydney too and we all needed to pee as usual so it was a quick "Hi Andrew" (OzBus Andrew) and "Aayah" to Peter Marriott (Andrew's dad...the source of the word) while we ran (literally) back along the road to the loos. We returned much relieved to take the obligatory group photo (still in the rain) before getting back on the bus into town. Most people got off by Circular Quay. A few people won't be around for the 19th, so there were a few tears shed when saying goodbye.

 
A few of us got back on the bus as it was heading towards Coogee, then got a taxi from the bus depot to Coogee so I ended up right on the doorstep of my cousin's flat. His flatmate Brid had given me perfect directions and left a key out for me so I had no trouble finding the place.
 
A really weird thing happened then. I got hungry (that's not the weird part) so decided to head out to find a shop/takeaway. I went to the roundabout outside the flat & picked a direction. After 2 blocks there seemed to be just more & more houses & flats so I took a left turn towards what looked like a better lit area. As I approached the next junction, I heard calls of "Claire! Claire!" & who did I bump in to but some of the other Coogee-based OzBus people who were on their way to meet up with the other couple of Coogee-based OzBus people so we all ended up having dinner together. How weird was the timing of my leaving the flat and directions I walked in to have bumped into them! After 3 months together we must be joined telepathically :)
 
So that's the story of my Sat & Sun...the last 2 days on the OzBus. I hope you managed to get this far without falling asleep.
 
ttfn
Claire
]]> Melbourne...almost there now — Melbourne, Australia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1197615420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1197615420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1197615420/tpod.html Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:00:53 -0500 12 weeks on a bus with 38 strangers travelling through 20 countries...a walk in the park!
Melbourne, Australia

Temperature and quantity of flies keeps varying quite dramatically as we travel down thru Australia.

Melbourne is a fantastic city and it's making us all itchy to put down some roots...only a couple of days to do till we finish up in Sydney. Mized emotions about the end of the trip but can't wait to stay in one place for a while!
]]> Sleeping underground in Coober Pedy — Coober Pedy, Australia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1197281280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1197281280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1197281280/tpod.html Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:10:25 -0500 12 weeks on a bus with 38 strangers travelling through 20 countries...a walk in the park!
Coober Pedy, Australia

Starting to enjoy Australia a lot more now that we're out of the humidity of the north. We can actually sleep at night and while there are still a lot of flies, the number has gone down mightily. We're camping a lot while we're here (when I don't wuss out & upgrade to a room with air-con) and the stars are amazing.

Gotta go again. Got 2 mins online while waiting for pizza for dinner.
]]> Flight...Got to Darwin early am. — Darwin, Australia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1196667060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1196667060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1196667060/tpod.html Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:32:15 -0500 12 weeks on a bus with 38 strangers travelling through 20 countries...a walk in the park!
Darwin, Australia

nothing
]]> Taking a morning off in Katherine — Katherine, Australia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1196817780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1196817780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1196817780/tpod.html Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:30:28 -0500 12 weeks on a bus with 38 strangers travelling through 20 countries...a walk in the park!
Katherine, Australia

The heat and humidity are one thing but the flies!!! They're on your sandwich while you're trying to eat it. They're buzzing around your ears. They're getting up your nose. They bite too!

The night we arrived in Darwin was the second hottest on record...we were lucky enough to have air con that night (that only took 3 hours to cool down the room that we vacated an hour later).

No such luck the 2nd night in Oz in Kakadu National Park...we slept (or tried to) in sheds with no electricity. I have NEVER sweated so much in my life. Didn't sleep much!

3rd day in and 12 of us defected and rather than spend another night in a sweatbox in a campsite by Katherine, we upgraded to motel rooms with air con....heaven :)
]]> Bali..last stop before Oz — Kuta, Bali, Indonesia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1196477220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1196477220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1196477220/tpod.html Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:26:47 -0500 12 weeks on a bus with 38 strangers travelling through 20 countries...a walk in the park!
Kuta, Bali, Indonesia

Not too many chances to get on the internet throughout Indonesia....definitely a significant step down from Malaysia in terms of infrastructure.

We're all really looking forward to Australia now.

Maz said the other day that "this trip is too long but not long enough" & it's true...we feel like we have been on the road forever, changing currencies and languages and sometimes quite significant changes in temperature every couple of days and yet we'd all like to have been able to spend longer in some of the places we have been. Maybe if we had then we wouldn't be so jaded now.

Bali feels like the hottest place we've been so far. I haven't sweated this much since landing in Bangkok. Maybe it's because we've just come from the cool mountain air around Mt Bromo on Java. Oh well, it'll toughen us up for Oz!

As usual, this crappy computer I'm on is acting up and the connection is really slow so I can't get at the latest photos on my camera to upload them. I've been using one on the guys' laptops to transfer the photos to a USB stick but haven't had the opportunity to do that for a while now. We're all back together now* for the flight to Australia early Monday morning so hopefully I'll get hold of it again soon. Otherwise, I can see myself spending the whole 2 weeks in the run up to Christmas in Sydney updating my blog & making it look like I would have liked to have done it all along. It's amazing how long it takes just to check a few emails and post some map pins so you all know where I am! Weigh that against the amount of time we have in the places we stop & you can see why the blog has been pretty sparse. That's 2 hours used up now so I'm heading back outside to enjoy the sunshine...ttfn



*
Some people got tired of being on the bus so much or really wanted to visit some place we weren't going to along the way, so groups of people have left & rejoined the bus along the way. The farthest I deviated was to a different hotel in Bukittinggi but I definitely want to go back to some of the places we have been and see a lot of places we missed along the way too!
]]> border day again...only Indonesia->Oz to go — Pekanbaru, Indonesia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1195790700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1195790700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1195790700/tpod.html Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:07:00 -0500 12 weeks on a bus with 38 strangers travelling through 20 countries...a walk in the park!
Pekanbaru, Indonesia

nothing
]]> border count = 17, only 2 more to go — Penang, Malaysia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1195617540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1195617540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/seat32/ozbus2007/1195617540/tpod.html Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:02:17 -0500 12 weeks on a bus with 38 strangers travelling through 20 countries...a walk in the park!
Penang, Malaysia

nothing
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