To the outback... kinda!
Trip Start
May 06, 2006
1
53
81
Trip End
Mar 23, 2009
Clunes, Byron Bay,
Australia
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Before I left I did the Neighbours tour which was plain hilarious and got all the token tourist pics! We went to Erinsborough (sp?) High (actually a language school for foreign immigrants to learn English!), the studios (but just the outside bits), Ramsey Street which is tiny and then on to meet one of the 'stars'. We met one of the 'stars'... Dillon is his on screen name... a slightly disappointing end being as the guy isn't even in it over here any more (need work by any chance?!) and I had no clue who he was! I wanted to meet Harold or the Doc, at least someone I'd seen before! Oh well, one of the girls was extremely excited and very pleased to meet him, even if a little obsessive. Ahhh the world of cheesy soap opears!
I also visited the state library, the Melbourne Aquarium, the British Consulate, the Queen Victoria Market and the Koone Museum of Aboriginal History. The library was huge and pretty but nothing too outstanding from your regular city library. The Aquarium was good but after seeing some of this sealife in their natural environment I just felt sorry for a lot of them being in such a small space. I did get to see the shark/stingray/other sealife feed where 2 scuba divers go in and feed them.
01 At Erinsborough High!
I think the most amazing ones to watch were the absolutely enourmous stingrays! They just landed on their heads for food and completely covered them! Something that would've been amazing to experience I'm sure! The British Consulate was a visit thanks to my putting my passport through the wash. It still scans so it's fine but I'm absolutely gutted 'cos I lost loads of my stamps which I used to love admiring and seeing where I'd been so far. Oh well, I'll just have to go again to get more stamps! The market was good and a great place to shop for fresh stuff if anyone is planning on staying/living in Melbourne for a while. And lastly, the museum was very interesting but also extremely sad at the way these natives had been treated for such a long time. So, not the greatest thing to do on my last day in town!I also got a normal house all to myself for an entire weekend which was absolute bliss. Alli and Luke went to her parents again for the weekend and invited me to take residence in their house so I could be normal for a day! I just want to thank them both for their unbelievable hospitality! It was so nice to have some familiarity - both in the home and in the people! Thank you both so much! (and little Anouk of course!).
Anyway moving on up (the coast!), we have some family friends that emigrated here a long time ago who had said I was welcome to stay with them so off to Ballina I headed and to their big home in the 'tiny village' of Clunes (their nearest Neighbours are about 2km away so the word 'village' covers a much larger space than it would in the UK!).
02 At the bus stop!
It's beautiful here and it's once again nice to be in a normal house with normal things! I'm being treated like their child and am getting meals cooked for me and getting to lounge about and pick movies from a collection of at least 300 that John has! They've also being taking me to do the touristy stuff which has been fun so far!Yesterday John and I went to the most Easterly point of mainland Australia and saw loads of dolphins swimming in the sea below us. It was plain beautiful and the views were stunning. We also vistited the town of Byron Bay and more gorgeous beaches on the way back. Last night they treated me to a vegetarian meal in a very characterful restaurant in town where we ordered far too much food and had to bring a load of it home! It was delicious though and I don't think I've been that full in a long time! Today we went to Bangalow market which was, again, characterful! Tomorrow I'm off to the hippy town of Nimbin with Sue and then I'm not sure what else!
I think on Wednesday I'll head to Byron Bay and then Nimbin to stay for a few nights and then onto Brisbane for a few nights before flying out to New Zealand! I haven't yet had the visa approved which is a little worrying but I'm sure it'll work out. More problems with the Oz visa (surprise surprise!) but I won't go into that again. Nightmare country once you've been places they don't like so much! I'll win!!
On the down side I appear to be allergic to something in Australia, or maybe just Australia! I can't stop sneezing and it's definitely not a cold... can you be allergic to a country? Or maybe they really don't want me to stay so are following me with pollen or something... yes, I'm that special that I get targeted by the government!!
Anyway, dinner's ready now so I'm going to go and eat some more lovely food (sorry Helena!). I've been missing South Africa a lot this week which is weird as I haven't thought too much about it in a while. Maybe it's just 'cos it's a year since I was there (scary huh?!) but I've been longing to go back! Get me to New Zealand quick! I hope all is well and thank you to those of you who have emailed recently with your news - it was good to hear from you and I'll get back to you very soon! Some pics will be added in about 2 hours so come and look if they're not on yet! Take care all!
