Working and Walking....

Updated by Paul.

Not bad for a winter's day...



This month’s report this month will be a little light on detail. Well c’mon, I mean the travelling has stopped now and Anna and I are just working regular jobs now so what do you expect? Are you after detailed descriptions of getting up in the morning, going to work and coming home again?! Okay admittedly a journey to work that involves a sail around the Sydney Opera House and a train across the famous Harbour Bridge is a damn sight more exciting than a trip on the London Orbital M25 Motorway but still there are still only so many ways to embellish the description of a daily commute.

I guess the stereotype of an Englishman is that when he is struggling with things to say he typically reverts to talk of the weather. Or just drinks a cup of tea. So as I sit here sipping on a cup of Twining’s finest I’ll tell you that it is pretty much the middle of winter here. Yes it gets cold at night (sometimes dropping as low as 7 or 8 degrees Celsius) but the daytime could very easily class as a fine summer back in Blighty. Blue skies, sunshine and 21 degrees are regular – are you sure this is winter?! A day like that in England would see a stampede of motorists, clogging up the motorways, heading out to Southend-On-Sea or Brighton or Blackpool and stripping down to their swimwear for a dip in the sea. If you did that here on Manly Beach, where we live, the Aussies would look at you with Bewilderment and claim it was far too cold for that sort of behaviour. And they call us soft?!

Living by the coast there are plenty of opportunities for days out and going for a hike. We’ve completed a few now including walks up and around both the North and South Heads of Sydney Harbour. Around the North Head I saw some of the biggest spiders I’ve ever seen in my life. Of course, being an unflinching kind of guy, I stared them down and walked by with a nod and a wink but I swear my ears are still ringing from Anna’s shrieks – oh wow! Given that this walk takes you right up to the cliff edges with 50 or 60 metre sheer drops to the ocean, you wouldn’t want to be jumping too far in the air!

The walk around the South Head was a bit more gentle and serene culminating in some more great views across the harbour and across Vaucluse and Rose Bay – some of the wealthiest suburbs of Sydney. The walk was still not without its dangers though including some sights much more sickening than a few hairy spiders. The main hike trail takes you past the entrance to Lady Bay Beach – the closest nudist beach to Sydney’s city. Unfortunately the beach is not covered in bronzed, beautiful women working on their all-over body tans, just three sad, fat, lonely old guys standing around catching the breeze. I know it wasn’t quite whale-watching season yet but it really did look like three of Sydney’s largest whales had washed up on this beach! Moving swiftly along from this nightmare inducing scene (give me poisonous spiders anyday!) we headed up around the lighthouse and back to Watson’s Bay for some of Doyle’s famous fish and chips and a good beer to try and think happy thoughts again.

Given the fact that work is going well (Anna is working in an early childhood education centre and I’m working for a biotech company in North Sydney) we are going to try and stay beyond the initial one year visa period. This means we have to go through the process of applying for business sponsorship and playing the waiting game with the Australian Immigration Department. After the experiences of working in the Vineyards of new Zealand, fruit picking or any agriculture work to gain a second year visa is out of the question! Will keep you all posted on progress.

A Town Called Humpybong.....

Updated by Paul

Dunnydoo, Innaloo and Poowong.

Bong Bong, Tittybong, Wee Waa and Wagga Wagga.

Woolloomooloo.

Don’t worry blog readers, I haven’t gone mad. These are not made-up words or even words that you might use when you want to go off for a quick one with the missus. These are all genuine town or place names in Australia! I haven’t even mentioned some of my favourites like Fannybay, Wattanobbi and if you’re feeling a bit tender there’s always the New South Wales town of Delicate Nobby.

Mount Buggery in Victoria and Iron Knob in South Australia do not sound like appealing places to me but then you may always happen upon the town of Come-By-Chance. You might need to hold your nose when going through the town of Windpassing and don’t say I didn’t warn you when you pass through Orange and see that this is where they have hundreds of orchards of errrr….. apples!

There's always the optimistically named Sunshine (in Victoria) but my absolute favourite is the Queensland town (and it could only be in Queensland) of Wonglepong. I don’t know why.

Sydney and Melbourne... A Tale of Two Cities

Updated By Paul


We’ve been in Sydney now for nearly five months, if you can believe it (and even, come to that, if you can’t). I’ve got used to the Sydneysider way of life; mixing beach-side living with the close proximity to a major city. It’s a good relaxed combination of chilling out in the sunshine whilst still having access to all the modern conveniences of the 21st century i.e. 24 hour supermarkets with 24 hour transport to get you home from the 24 hour bars! Its not just these conveniences that make life seem well balanced here but also the little things like the fact you can go anywhere wearing flip-flops (or thongs as they are called over here!) and even that the local supermarkets will very kindly post you a leaflet in your letterbox telling you all the special deals you can get this week – how very thoughtful! I’ve become addicted to some of the different foods eaten here – as dull as it sounds, my favourite now is avocadoes – they’re not the expensive luxury items they are in England but just an everyday fruit as common as an apple or orange and just as cheap. I could eat these green wonders every day if I could!

All this convenience and comfort has made me complacent though and taken my eye off the travelling ball, which is what the whole experience being Down Under is supposed to be about. Therefore a trip was in order to feed that travelling hunger and where better to head than to Australia’s second largest city – the Victorian capital of Melbourne! After banishing the idea that everyone would be wearing top hats and have handlebar moustaches (its disappointingly not a victorian city caught in some 1800’s time warp but the capital city of the state of Victoria) it was time to experience the wonders of Australian low cost airlines with the fantastically named Singaporean airline – Tiger Airways.

With the increased security at airports across Europe and the US, it often feels like you have to show so many forms of ID and submit to so many checks you might be better off just agreeing to a full DNA test to prove who you are, your nationality, line of parentage and shoe size. When it comes to getting through security you’re under so much scrutiny from overly zealous security guards who force you to discard anything that might possibly be used to construct a bomb (including, but not limited to such dangerous articles as toothpaste, orange juice, or showergel) it therefore certainly came as a shock when we pitched up at Sydney airport, showed no form of ID or ticket and breezed through security along with my potentially lethal supply of shaving foam and a razor blade. Not so much as a raised eyebrow from the security guard slouched in the chair reading a copy of Airport Babes Monthly or something equally distracting.This all seemed a bit too easy –I assumed we must have to show some ID at the gate before boarding the plane surely? No, of course not, that would be far too secure – by simply waving a printed boarding pass from the internet which could have had anyone’s name on it we boarded the plane – we could have been anyone!

Now I’m not in any way suggesting that an internal Australian Tiger Airways flight is high on the international list of terrorist targets but it can’t take too much effort to hijack and divert a plane when no-one checks your identitiy. I don’t want to give any ideas to would be Al Queda readers of this blog but if you can fashion an explosive device from an old coke can and some shaving foam, no-one at Sydney airport is going to stop you!

Melbourne was certainly going to be be different to Sydney. The rivalry between the two cities goes quite a way back and has been known to be as fierce as Celtic versus Rangers, David versus Goliath, Tom versus Jerry and even Blondes versus Brunettes! In 1901, as all six British settlements joined to create the federation of Australia, both Sydney and Melbourne laid claims to be the capital of the new country but with all the squabbling between the two, no decision could be reached. Rather than let the other win - in a spirit of not so great compromise - a purpose built city was constructed approximately halfway between the two, off the rail line, near an old sheep station at Yass, that would not be convenient for either of them. It was named Canberra (the aboriginal term for ‘meeting place’). Melbourne’s stipulations were that it had to be at least 100 miles from Sydney and that Melbourne would be the temporary seat of power until it was built – talk about bitter!

Even the sports in the two cities are different – Sydneysiders love their footie. Not what I would call footie (that’s annoyingly known by the American term of “Soccer” here) but it is rugby league – the sport popular back in England in such glamourous northern towns as Wigan, Widnes and Warrington. Melbournites on the other hand prefer their own version of Footie – Aussie Rules Football – the sport where coming off with a broken nose means you’ve had a quiet game. As for buying a beer forget it – you’ll be feeling drunk and confused before you’ve even had a drop of drink. The standard glass size in Sydney and throughout the rest of New south Wales is a Schooner – a drink size approximately three quarters of a pint. The excuse they make for having a smaller drink is that because the weather is so hot a pint would get warm too quickly before you finish it. My solution to the problem? Drink the bloody pint quicker! In Melbourne you’d get a very funny look if you ordered a schooner – it’s pints or half pints only, except in Melbourne its not called a half pint, its called a pot! If you tried to order a pot in Sydney you’d soon get shown the door because its called a middy – confused? Yeah, I know, it’s enough to turn you to drink!

Walking around Melbourne you can certainly see the more logical design of the city compared to Sydney; the streets are wider, the grid design makes it easy to find your way around and the tram system provides quick and easy transportation. It becomes pretty clear that whereas Sydney was designed by soldiers and convicts who landed in the first fleet, Melbourne was designed later by architects and engineers, mainly during the Victorian gold rush of the later nineteenth century. In fact for many years Melbourne was always seen as the grander city of the two particularly during the first half of the twentieth century. The crowning glory was when Melbourne hosted the 1956 Olympic games – rubbing Sydney noses in the dirt. The effect of this though was only to spur on the Sydney passion for civic pride. Restrictions on the height of buildings were lifted so that Manhattan style skyscrapers could be built. A competition was held to develop an old tram garage station by the harbour bridge into an opera house to provide a cultural centre for Sydney. What is interesting though is that the winning design for the Opera house was originally rejected by the judging panel. It was only when a further expert was called in that he looked through all the original plans and pulled out the sail design for the distinctive Opera house as we now know it!

It wasn’t long before the the big corporations moved their headquarters to Sydney; supporting the suburban population growth and urban regeneration. The final victory for Sydney came as Melbourne lost its bid to host the 1996 Olympics and Sydney gloriously staged the 2000 games against a backdrop of gleaming skyscrapers, the harbour bridge and the Opera House!

In the centre of the numerous heritage buildings in Melbourne lies Federation Square – a modern complex of galleries, office space and restaurants built around an open, sunny central square on the banks of the Yarra river. Built to commerate the one hundred year aniversary of Australian federation it was supposed to be opened in time to mark the occasion on January 1st 2001. Finally opened in October 2002 and four times over budget it makes the much delayed Wembley Stadium building project look like the smoothest operation ever! All the galleries and museums are free and so it seemed like a good way to spend a few hours – I particularly liked the Australian Centre for Moving Image where you can make your own Matrix style motion capture sequence – way cool! The galleries were the usual collections of European style art – nothing too exciting and no aboriginal works on display but the tour of Melbourne Old Gaol was well worth the visit.

Supposedly haunted after 135 hangings were conducted in the gaol, you could opt to tour the buildings at night by torchlight, or if you are too much of a scaredy cat you can take the daytime tour with a live re-enactment of the Ned Kelly story thrown in! Ned Kelly, for those of you not fully versed in your Aussie folklore history, is the legendary anti-establishment murderer convicted of killing British police officers in Victoria, jailed in Melbourne and finally hanged in 1880. His skull was kept at the jail but stolen in 1978 so if you happen to be in Melbourne and see a skull lying around it may well be ol’ Ned’s Noggin!

Two other things Melbourne is famous for are great shopping and great food. I refuse to spend any time discussing the merits of shopping, wherever it is in the world, but I am reliably informed that in Melbourne it is good. (Thanks Anna).I’ll more than happily talk about the food though! There is a real café culture in Melbourne – very much like a European city – which you don’t get so much of in Sydney. The restaurants are smaller and more exclusive, the bars are probably more hip and cooler but you certainly do pay more for this exclusivity! Put it this way, the flight down to Melbourne cost $24, cocktail drink after dinner (as you do!) - $25 (around 17 pounds). Ouch! The food itself followed the same trend – everything looked great, very fancy, very expensive and very well presented but every meal we ate was disappointing. It was all either overcooked, underdone or just didn’t taste of anything. Give me the local fish and chip shop by the beach back in Manly anyday!

I think the problem with Melbourne is encapsulated in that description of the food. The city looks great, is very nicely presented, has pretensions to be European but is overly expensive and ultimately disappointing. If you want to be in a European city, why leave Europe?

The day after spending $200 on dinner we went to a Thai festival that was being held in Federation square. For lunch I spent $8 on a thai curry and rice from a food van which was infinitely better than the dinner the night before. Getting food this good at that price is a rarity in Melbourne whereas in Sydney it is common – in fact, I know a place in Glebe (in Sydney’s innerwest area) where you can get a kick-ass pad-thai for just 5 bucks! If only Melbourne would be brave enough to embrace other cultures as much as Sydney has done it would be a much more vibrant and lively place for it. But then I guess that’s what it is trying to do by holding the Thai Festival!

I’m not knocking Melbourne, I do like it there, but it reminds me too much of living in London (albeit a less crowded and dirty London) and heading to the Edwardian beach resorts of Bournemouth or Brighton for your holidays. Being in Sydney is more like being in Manhattan by the beach in Hawaii! Melbourne is definitely the classier, smarter, more cultured brunette of the two but is high maintenance and when you scratch beneath the surface isn’t quite as satisfying as you thought. Sydney on the other hand with her glamourous, golden blonde surf beaches and twin assets on constant display (the Harbour Bridge and Opera House!) certainly seems shallower and dumber but underneath the surface is actually quite cultured and sophisticated. Where else can you go and see a Shakespeare play performed in the open air at the Botanical Gardens or chill out at night with a beer in a disco amongst the exhibits at the museum!

I was happy to be returning back to Sydney, but will definitely return to Melbourne at some point. I didn’t get a chance to visit the MCG – the mecca of cricket in Australia – or hire a car and head out on the Great Ocean Road. Still with bargain flight prices it won’t take too much cost and effort - so long as the plane is not hijacked with a razor blade and diverted to Libya!

Anyway back in Sydney now, the sun is shining so heading down to the beach but not before a quick trip to the supermarket. A leaflet has just been put into the postbox, half price special on avocadoes – today only. Better slip into my thongs and head down there!

To view photos please click on this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58561&id=100000021481670&l=e2818513b5

The Power of Nature

updated by Paul

I never thought I’d say that London seemed like a safe place to live but based on some of the events of recent months in Australia and New Zealand, it seems increasingly like that is the case. Although I’ve been lucky not to have been in any of the major disaster zones when they have struck, it has been shocking to see the wrath that mother nature can wreak on such a scale – devasting floods, tropical cyclones blowing away whole towns, Raging bush fires, and fatally destrucive earthquakes all act as a reminder that there is no more malevolent a force on Earth than the Earth itself.

Maybe its because Its raining today, or possibly because it’s the end of a long and tiring week at work but this is more of a reflective entry than the usual lame attempts at humour I try and put in these blog entries. More likely it is because I’m writing it soon after the Christchurch Earthquake that has torn apart New zealand’s second city and claimed the lives of hundreds of people in buildings and places that I was in no more than three months ago. I make no apology for the serious tone but when you are actively scanning the news channels and looking out for names of deceased that you may know, it kind of puts a different slant on travelling away from the safety of home.

The time I spent in Christchurch was probably a week in total over three seperate periods. There were tremors whilst Anna and I were there but they were only gentle aftershocks from the original 7.1 quake in September which brought down buildings but did not cause any loss of life. Looking back at it now I guess there was an element of luck that the big one didn’t strike. The images of the collapsed Cathedral on the TV are most jarring because as the main attraction in the middle of the city it is where we spent a lot of time and our accommodation was maybe fifty metres away. To see people being pulled from buildings you were in is a shocking experience.

In Australia, the state of Queensland has been hammered in recent months. Floods have washed away whole towns and communities claiming the lives of people just going about their daily business. The wall of water is of Tsunami strength and again the pictures of cars being picked up and washed away as well as solidily built homes crashing down are ones where you can’t do anything but look on in awe and say “bloody hell!” As if that wasn’t enough the same state was then hit by Tropical Cyclone Yassi – a storm that when it hit land was stronger than Hurricane Katrina that devasted New Orleans a few years ago. All this in an area that last year suffered devasting drought and hard earth-baking heatwaves that destroyed crops and caused bushfires that were unrelenting in burning homes and all that stood in its path – nature is fickle!

Despite the heavy rain and floods on the eastern side of Australia this year it doesn’t mean the western side escapes. Bush fires have destroyed homes in the outer suburbs of Perth – again the devastation to normal family life is laid out bare on the TV news.

So that really is the balancing act in Australia. Comfortable beachside living, with easy access to one of the world’s great, clean citys. Low crime rates, low risk of terrorism, friendly people, a sky that’s blue and a sun that shines. Contrast that to London – yeah sure you run the risk of being blown up on a bus or having a knife run through you but you’re not going to have your house blown over or knocked down in an earthquake!

So that seems to be the choice – tackle the myriad dangers of nature in the land down under (and I haven’t even mentioned the snakes, spiders or sharks in the sea!) or return back to grey old Tory-run, crime ridden London. On the plus side, QPR are doing well and it looks like I could be watching a Premier League team next year! Let me book that flight now…..

Sunshine and Santa - Christmas and New Year in Sydney

Updated by Paul

Christmas in Australia is a very surreal experience – have you ever worn a Santa suit in 30 degree heat? No, neither have I because I’m not stupid. Some people, however, see nothing strange in this at all! All the Christmas cards still feature traditional snow scenes even though half the people here have never seen snow in their life. The city gets all the street decorations up and may people still have a traditional roast turkey dinner in the heat! Me? I preferred the barbeque option!

Getting to the beach at Christmas is an absolutely essential thing to do so we packed a few cold beers into the bag along with the Santa hats and headed down to Balmoral Beach. Didn’t manage to catch the Queen’s speech or a James Bond film but even if I had, I still don’t think it would have felt like Christmas - Sunshine and Santa is not the combination I’m used to - but I really think I could get used to it!

During the Christmas break we headed over to Bondi Beach – the main hangout for Brits in Australia – Think of it as the Aussie version of Earl’s Court – the place in West London where all the Aussies go when they land in UK! It was absolutely hectic down there – you couldn’t even find space on the beach to lay out a towel! Yes, the beach was nice but the town was just a little Essex – there were more Chavs running around the place than in Dagenham! With so many nicer, classier, cleaner beach suburbs to the north of Sydney – I wonder why Brits abroad all clamour to one area just to be with people with the same accents?!

One thing about Sydney is that it knows how to party and there are not too many bigger celebrations here than New Year’s Eve and the fireworks display! Most people head into the city and crowd into the areas around the harbour – the crowd numbers running into tens of thousands! With a little bit of local knowledge though, we were told about a great spot on the north shore where you could bring your own beer and have some breathing space to yourself as well as clear views across the Harbour bridge and Opera House. The fireworks were spectacular, there were only a couple of hundred people there, the atmosphere was party-like without being over crowded and we didn’t have to pay silly prices for a beer. All this and only a 30 minute walk home whilst everyone else struggled with the public transport – result!

We have finally managed to find our own apartment – in Manly, by the beach (where I can go surfing everyday after work!) – we are working and so therefore travelling around a lot less but still using the time off at weekends or holidays to explore the area. Whilst I’ve missed family and friends over the Christmas and New Year period, I have not missed the freezing weather and inevitable meltdown of road and transport infrastructure!

The Weather is getting really hot now – as I write this on Australia day, it is tipping 40 degrees – I’m off to throw a kangaroo kebab on the barbie and sink a few very cold beers – no worries and g’day mate!

To view photos please click the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47858&id=100000021481670&l=1c33efbb85

Sydney - City and Seaside (The first two months in Oz)!

Updated by Paul

Of course I already knew what Sydney looked like; everyone has seen the iconic images on the television – crystal clear blue skies, the arching gleaming harbour bridge, the imposing, white curvaceous opera house, yachts weaving in and out and bobbing on the water – yet I was still knocked-out to see it all as the plane circled over these stunning landmarks, there they all were shouting a big Sydney welcome – definitely the best “G’day mate!” arrival into any country so far on the travels!

As we made our way from the airport through the suburbs towards the city centre, I noticed how dressed up everyone was – men wearing top-hat and tails, ladies wearing posh frocks and big hats – I was going to have to rush out and get a whole new wardrobe if this was how people just walked around the streets! Thankfully before I had a chance to spend way too money at the nearest department store a friendly local explained to me it was Melbourne Cup Day – a horse racing event that the whole country stops for and goes to the big screens set up in the city to watch. Trust me to have arrived too late and not even had a chance to put a bet on – I would definitely have backed the winner. Definitely.

We were staying in the suburb of Glebe – an area about 20 minutes walk west from the centre of the city – it’s known as a very trendy and cool suburb with a bohemian, hippyish vibe – lots of cool restaurants, bookshops and independent stores. It certainly had a nice chilled out vibe and it was good to relax for a bit after so much hectic travelling but I couldn’t get too relaxed as job hunt had to begin in earnest!

After spending most of our second day in Australia dealing with the tedious tasks necessary to become an Australian job hunter; opening an Aussie bank account, applying for a tax file number, obtaining an Aussie mobile phone and number and registering various details with numerous agencies; we were able to start looking around the city. First impressions were that although this was a large and sprawling metropolis, the city centre was small and compact enough to explore easily on foot. The main roads of George and Pitt streets connect the university and Chinatown areas with Circular Quay where you will find the Opera House, Botanical Gardens and great views out across the harbour and to the bridge. It was a clean city and people were friendly and helpful – things were looking good! On the job front I hit the jackpot – a sales job at the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground) – I would be able to get in and watch all games – including the Ashes test match for free – result!!

After a couple of weeks in the city, Anna and I were enjoying ourselves (particularly enjoying the rooftop barbeques!) but we decided that we had not left London just to stay in another city suburb. We therefore decided to move from the central area to one of the beach suburbs. The great thing about Sydney is that you can be at the beach and still get into the city centre in less than 30 minutes – how brilliant is that?! We headed to the Northern Beaches area as these beaches seemed to be a bit classier than the likes of Bondi or Coogee. After a week long stay in Collaroy we moved to the suburb of Manly where the commute into the city involved a scenic 30 min ferry across the harbour and around the Opera house – I soon got used to the sight of tourists boarding the boat, hanging over the edge and taking photos on what is just your normal commute into work!

On a rare day off from work (I have even taken a second job as the cricket job was only when there was a game being played at the ground) Anna and I decided to jump on a bus and head up to Palm Beach – known to you and I as Summer Bay! This is a beach area about 90 minutes north of the city on a public bus. It is an area home to many of the rich and famous Sydneysiders as well as been the filming location of the Home and Away soap opera. We called into Alf Robert’s surf shack to buy a coffee and ice cream – unfortunately Alf himself was not there – what a flaming galahh!

There’s an area just to the west of Sydney called the Blue Mountains. Since arriving in Oz, everyone has told us we should head out there for some spectacular scenery. I was a bit dubious after having spent four months in New Zealand and was thinking it would just be more of the same and there was no way it could live up to the splendour of the NZ South Island - but I was very, very wrong! We took the train out west one weekend and arrived in the mountain town of Katoomba. Straight away it was like being transported back to the 1930’s as every building still maintains the classical art deco style of the era - progress was slow in rural Australia! We checked in to our accommodation and headed straight out for a hike along the mountains. The term ‘mountains’ is a bit misleading – it’s more of a large valley or canyon. If you imagined the Grand Canyon in the USA but covered in trees and bush you are on the way to what the area looks like. The mountains get their name from the fine mist that evaporates off the trees and produces a shimmering blue haze. Hopefully this shows on some of the photos you can see by clicking the link below! The predominant rock formation of the area is called The Three Sisters. Aboriginal legend has it that a wizard turned three sisters into pillars of rock to protect them from the unwanted advances of an amorous young man from a rival tribe. Unfortunately the wizard died before he could turn them back to human sop they still stand there to this day. Bummer!!

After a hike along the valley ridges we headed back into town for some tucker. At this point there was only one thing on the menu that I wanted to eat - yep a good bit of kangaroo steak! It was delicious - cooked nicely, medium rare, it tasted halfway as a cross between beef and lamb - delicious!! The next day saw a thick fog roll in which obliterated any views for the planned hike that day so we reluctantly returned to the city. Despite the trip being cut short, I would recommend a visit to the Blue Mountains to anyone in the Sydney area - at a cost of only around eight pounds return on the train from the city we will definitely be coming back here soon - especially as we didn’t even get a chance to ride the cable car down from the top of the mountain to the valley floor!

After a couple of weeks staying in Manly we started trying to find an apartment or flat to call our own. The Sydney rental market is a competitive beast – you can phone a letting agent or landlord to arrange a viewing and they will tell you about an open viewing session at a set time on a set date. This constitutes a 15 minute viewing period in which you are herded in, marched around the house and shoved back out again – all along with at least 20 other people. One tiny flat we viewed must have broken all rules of time and space by somehow squeezing 40 people in to a room the size of a shoebox! The upshot of this viewing system is that everyone at the viewing session applies for the tenancy and it is then a lottery if you get it or not - frustrating to say the least!

We decided that we would rent a room in a house-share for the time being and found a decent property in Mosman – another upmarket location on the north shore – not that we are snobbish or anything! This worked out well as we were only a ten minute walk to Balmoral Beach, Anna could get a bus to Mona Vale where she worked and I could travel easily to Chatswood where I was working. We would try again on the apartment front after the Christmas break.

All in all the first few months in Sydney have been great – the lifestyle is relaxed, the contrast between beach and city life is blurred into one laid-back attitude and it is no wonder that the Aussies constantly tell you “No worries mate!” It was easy to find work and once we have our own place, the journey from Hanwell to Oz will be complete!

To view photos please click the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47858&id=100000021481670&l=1c33efbb85

The Kiwi Experience - Round The South

Updated by Anna

After a great night out in Wellington everyone had to get up early and catch the ferry over to South Island and resist being sea sick. We jumped on the Kiwibus again and headed for an early session of wine tasting at Prenzel where me and Paul had been before. It was a glorious sunny day and we were sitting in a luscious garden, everyone debating whether we should pay a lot of money or not for the Abel Tasman Track which is a hike that takes a couple of days to complete. Everyone decided it was over-rated and we would be covering similar terrain on our journey down the west coast anyway therefore we only stayed one night in Nelson. A group of us went for a relaxed walk along a nice beach that was full of jelly fish!

Returned back and some lovely girls had made us some tasty chilli con carne which we finished off with free chocolate pudding that the hostel had made.

Next morning it was off to the west coast town of Westport stopping off on the way at the Nelson lakes where we saw giant eels under the jetty. In Westport we luckily got a cosy room for ten people with our own kitchen, fireplace and bathroom. I stayed in that night and enjoyed the nice, warm and cosy fireplace whilst Paul went and enjoyed the small town pub. Westport was small but the next day we were going to an even smaller place called Lake Mahinapua. The drive on the west coast of the south island was spectacular and we saw green rain forest, deserted goldfields and the snow capped Southern Alps.

On the way there we went for a walk around Cape Foulwind which was the windiest walk of my life. The trail was along the cliffs and you could spot a seal colony. Here I fed a Weka bird which had such a big beak but was so gentle when it ate from my hand. The wind was so strong that I could hardly stand straight let alone try to walk normally, it was all a bit exciting! We passed through Hokitika (an old gold town) where they make the famous New Zealand jade (green stone) jewellery. We arrived in the unique accommodation in a hotel and we were met by 85-year old Les who runs the hotel and has a very dirty mouth! It was a hotel that has not had any TLC the last 30 years. Yep it was unique.

Les is an eccentric so his theme for the night’s dressing up party was plastic bin bags. The pub area had lots of hats and old dressing up stuff hanging from the ceiling which made it all a bit smelly! He did cook a mean BBQ meal and venison stew though after which we watched the sunset over the beach with pink skies.

Time to dress up and in our room we decided to dress up as the fabulous Swedish music group ABBA. We were the tribute band basically! Had a hilarious time trying to get it all together sticking and cutting plastic bags and trying to be creative! We looked absolutely nothing like them but had the capital letters of ABBA on our backs so everyone would know who we were. It was a fun evening full of games and I did admire some peoples’ costumes - they were brilliant!

The nice evening would turn nasty when I woke up in the middle of the night and heard the trickling sound of a dorm-mate urinating in the corner of the room all over my open suitcase. I could not believe it. Paul was great and washed all my clothes in the middle of the night. Fortunately it did not ruin the next day though because we booked our full day glacier-hike in Franz Josef which was something to look forward to.

Arrived in Franz Josef and checked in to our new hostel. This is the place where we would walk on the glacier the following day. Glacier movement has been recorded since 1893 and since then the glacier has advanced and retreated several times. The glacier is 12 km long it can move up to 5 metres daily and that is why the trained guides have to cut out new ways of climbing it every day.

As the big day arrived, we had to get fitted with the right equipment: proper walking boots, rainproof trousers/jacket, gloves and hat and special spikes (called crampons) to put on our boots when we walked on the ice. We walked through a challenging and spectacular terrain. There where ice tunnels, falls and cracks all along the way. Our guide was foolish enough to tie himself by the feet to go down head first through a massive but narrow crack to try and retrieve a lost ice-pick. He failed to retrieve it and was covered in blood! It didn’t bother him though so we all continued climbing up steep walls with the help of ropes and the steps made by our guide.

We stopped for packed lunch and could admire the view down the glacier and valley. We started to crawl through really narrow ice tunnels so there was no time for claustrophobia. Everyone had had a fantastic day but we were all pumped out and really looked forward to a hot shower! It was one of the best days ever!

Up early next morning in order to catch the perfect mirror reflection of Mount Cook on Lake Matheson near the town of Fox Glacier. It was an hour walk around it and then we travelled up Haast River/Pass where you can see huge cracks in the mountains and several waterfalls comes out of it.

We arrive at Wanaka around lunch time and everyone was stunned at this beautiful place. This is a town where you can spend a couple of days and we decide to do just that. Our hostel called Mountain View had a lovely garden and nice atmosphere. On the edge of a pristine alpine lake surrounded by the spectacular scenery of Mount Aspiring National Park, Lake Wanaka is a place where you can chill out and relax or be adventurous and do a skydive which some of our fellow Kiwibus travellers decided to do. They say Wanaka is the little Queenstown - a lot less touristy or over-developed but still lots of fun. This is certainly true.

First evening we strolled along the beach in the sunshine and then watched a DVD back in the hostel at night. Next morning we were up and away ready for a days hiking along the lake and a very steep climb up Mount Iron, but it was all worth it as the views over Wanaka were sensational! We enjoyed a packed lunch by the river where we were brave enough to dip our bare feet in the cold water.

In the evening it was time for an old fashioned cinema at Paradisio where they had soft sofas and even a Volkswagon Beetle car to sit in. There was an interval where they served freshly baked cookies and they were still warm.

The Wanaka Fest was on whilst we were there with a food and wine market, a parade for all the kids, mountain biking and even a “perfect woman” competition. The competitors had to drive around cones on a quad bike with a big stack of beer as well as skin a goat and fix a car engine. Apparently this makes up the perfect woman in New Zealand! J

That evening we enjoyed a meal together outside in the garden and went out for a few beers and a quick boogie in the town’s hippest local bar. After a good nights sleep we headed of to party in Queenstown! One of the stops on our way there was at Puzzling World with a massive wooden maze and illusion house and annoying puzzles and other hard mind games. It was too early for all - I had not even had coffee yet!

Next stop there was a few people on our bus who were brave enough to go bungy jumping over Kawarau Bungy Bridge. The surrounding scenery is rugged rocky terrain. Built in 1880 this structure assisted miners trying to reach Queenstown. It is now celebrated as the first commercially operated bungy site in the world. So after all the crazy people had jumped we spent an hour in the picturesque village of Arrow Town and listened to jazz in the park whilst the jazz festival was on.

Finally we arrived in busy Queenstown which was beaming at us but we had no time to lose as we had to prepare for our car hire the next day. Six of us hired a car with Paul driving out to Milford Sound the following morning. But we had to do Queenstown by night first. In one bar you could order tea pots of cocktails and drink it from shot glasses or straight from the teapot! It was a bit different but fun. After a dinner at Fergburgers - where you could buy a burger the size of your head! - we went to bed ready to go and see the gorgeous fiords the next day after saying good-bye to friends who were travelling elsewhere.

View these photos by clicking on the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44592&id=100000021481670&l=e958d71325

The Kiwi Experience - Going Forth in the North

Updated by Paul



Back in Auckland for the third and final time on this trip and I was keen to say goodbye to the big smoke in the best way possible - a final visit to the QPR kebab shop on K’ Road - God I’ll miss this place!!


Having previously stayed in the city centre, we decided that we would spend our final night stay in the upmarket area of Ponsonby - a trendy suburb to the west of the city centre. After a final walk along the harbour, a quick glance back at the imposing Skytower and gazing at the imposing volcanic cones of Mount Eden and Rangitoto Island all helped to remind me why I felt this was a city I could stay in a lot longer. However the next week travelling down the spine of the North Island would remind me why I left London - let’s see some of Momma Nature’s finest creations!!


The Kiwi Experience tour so far had been a bit of a mishmash of busses with groups that were not our own but as you leave Auckland pretty much everyone on the bus is new so you start a new group from scratch. Twenty of us rocked out of Auckland and we had clearly got lucky as everyone in the group was really friendly and up for fun.


The trip started in a North Eastern direction towards the Coramandel Penninsula but only after a quick stop for a breakfast pie - Steve, our driver guide, assured us this was a tradition in NZ and a pie was more nutritiously beneficial than a bowl of cornflakes. Pretty sure this was the first of the many dubious facts he would tell us as we travelled around!


We stopped at Hot Water Beach where the sea is freezing cold but by digging into the sand you can jump into a pool of steaming hot water that will quickly warm you up. As the boys dug deep and the girls stood idly by (typical!) the water filled up from the thermally heated earth below and made a nice cosy place to sit and chat with our new group mates.


After a short walk to Cathedral Cove we jumped back on the bus and headed to Whitianga where we would stay the night. We spent the evening in the bar of the hostel playing Killer pool and darts - I did win one of the pool competitions (more a case of everyone else being not very good rather than me being brilliant!) but had to do press-ups for losing darts. Not the last punishment I’ll have to do on this trip!!!


The next morning we headed down to Rotorua - The Maori Cultural Capital of NZ and also the volcanic heart of the country. Before arriving in Rotorua though we stopped and explored the Karangahake Scenic Reserve including a disused gold-mine - even going down old tunnels now covered in glow-worms! As we approached Rotorua the sulphuric smell crept on to the bus to tell you that you had arrived. We ditched our bags into our large king-size room (that cost less than everyone else’s dorm beds at the Base hostel haha!) and headed out to Kuirau Thermal Park to see some pretty spectacular steaming hot springs and bubbling mud pools - I never thought you could stare so long at some bubbling mud but it really is truly spectacular - checkout the photo’s to see some weird shapes!! After staring at the pools and puddles for far too long we headed over to the lake and explored a Maori village complete with scary looking statues - I swear the eyes on those thing follow you round. Back at the hostel we relaxed in our private spa pool - well you’ve gotta have some luxury when you’re backpacking around!


The next morning started with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday from the bus group as it was October the 11th - my birthday! To start this momentous day we stopped in to a farm for a Sheep Show - yep that’s right - only in New Zealand (and maybe Wales!) could you have such a phenomenon. Had it been a peep show I would have paid to go in but as it was a sheep show we opted to sit in the café and have a good coffee! The trip then continued down to Waitomo offering the possibility of exploring the caves or kicking back with a game of volleyball followed by some serious drinking games in the local pub. Having opted for the second option I can report that I had a great birthday!!


The next morning (with slightly heavy heads!) we headed out to see some rabbits get sheared! I kid you not - this country does some strange things to its animals! After witnessing this bizarre rural spectacle (and managing to avoid buying any of the over-priced rabbit woollen products) we headed towards Lake Taupo, an inland lake formed in the crater of a volcano several thousand years ago - now the size of Singapore. The last time this volcano erupted two thousand years ago it was reported as far as Rome and China as turning the entire sky red for three years! Last month it started steaming - people got worried.


After a quick walk down by the lake we headed to a pub quiz in. Did my team win? Of course we did!! Our group from the bus was getting on with each other so well that we didn’t really need the fifty dollars worth of free drink to ease the socialising but it did help! For some reason though, I see to remember wearing a bizarre amount of hats this evening!!


The plan for Taupo was to complete the Tongariro Alpine Crossing - an all day hike, ranked as one of the top ten walks in the world, across some of the most spectacular volcanic terrain. Typical of our luck it was snowing in the mountains and the walk was cancelled due to being unsafe. Big boo to snow! We went for a walk up to a lower level volcanic area called the ‘Craters Of The Moon’ due to the lunar looking landscape created by volcanic activity. It was quite cool but couldn’t make up for the disappointment of not doing the crossing. Oh well - at least it gives me an excuse to come back to New Zealand at some point in the future!


On the walk back to town we passed the Huka falls (a powerful waterfall that could fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in three seconds flat!) and some natural hot springs that just called for me to roll my trousers up and wade into. Unfortunately the place emptied pretty quickly when a local guy (who clearly wasn’t afraid of eating a few pies) waded in with some shampoo for his daily bath!! Back in town we headed out for a kick-ass curry with some new friends, a couple of drinks then off to bed.


The next morning we headed through the National Park to a town called Whakapapa. Bear in mind that in the Maori language ‘Wh’ is pronounced as a ‘F’ and you can see it is a very interestingly named town! Most of the team went off for a walk through the bush to see some waterfalls however I stayed behind to get 9 holes of golf in with a couple of others. It was a nice links style course that came with a couple of penalties for poor play. Unfortunately this caught me out and suffice to say that as peer standard golf rules of not hitting a tee shot past the ladies tee I had to run a lap around the bus in a manner that left me feeling slightly cold! Fortunately though I wasn’t the worst as Steve-o the driver had to do two laps! All good fun!!


Our destination for the night was River Valley lodge - a retreat in the middle of nowhere specialising in grade 5 white water rafting - I signed up for this straight away and planned to complete the raft in the morning. After a sedate night (for a change) we all went to bed in a 32 person bunk bed (I kid you not - it was cosy!!) Awoke the next morning to find that it had rained so heavily during the night that the river had risen dangerously high and the rafting had to be cancelled. Boo to mother nature and her rain!


The next morning after a scenic drive down the Kapiti Coast we arrived in Wellington. As we had already come through the city on the way up the North Island, Anna and I decided not to stay on for a few days here although some of the team would be staying. Its sad to leave people behind but the best way to do it was to hit the bars of Wellington for a great night out! As it was a Friday there was certainly no shortage of fun to be had and I can say for definite now that Wellington nightlife rocks!


The early morning ferry received a very bleary-eyed bunch of travellers headed to the South. We wont return to the North Island on this trip but I know that at some time in the future this mix of Maori and European cultures on a steaming, hissing volcanic island will see me come back. Besides - I still need to get my revenge on Mother Nature and complete that Tongariro Crossing!

To view photos please click the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40753&id=100000021481670&l=696071097d

Wines, Vines and Worktimes in Marlborough

Updated by Paul

Having been accused by some people of ‘gallivanting round the world’ and ‘having too much fun’ (you know who you are!) it was time to get some work and top up the all important cash reserves as all this gallivanting certainly takes it toll on the wallet! New Zealand is famous for producing some world class wines and as we quite like wine we thought it would be a nice idea to head to the main wine region and get some work in the vineyards!

Marlborough prides itself on being the sunniest region of New Zealand and producing some of the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world. (That last sentence is copyright of the Marlborough tourism guide!) We headed for the main town in this region, Blenheim, and immediately found work with a local contractor carrying out winter pruning of the vines. The pleasant image of working in warm sunshine and drinking bottles amongst the vines was soon shattered as 5am starts, lashing rain and cold Antarctic winds became the reality! This part of the world is currently experiencing some of the wettest winter conditions in decades - just our luck! Each day it rains heavily you can’t actually go to work. Whilst it’s always nice to have unexpected days off; you don’t get paid for them which kind of defeats the object of working to save money!

The work itself involves two main jobs - stripping the old canes off the vine and then selecting, trimming and wrapping the best canes to grow this years grapes. Generally only the guys carry out the stripping (sorry ladies, this doesn’t involve taking any clothes off!) It is physically hard and demanding work - one Kiwi guy even said it was like playing ten rugby matches in one day! Anna gave it a go for one day but was so shattered she stuck to trimming and wrapping for the rest of the time!

As the weeks have gone by the weather has got much nicer and its actually quite pleasant working in the Wairau Valley with the sun shining and some stunning scenic snow-capped mountains all around. We get paid based on the amount of vines we work on each day and we’ve managed to get this up to a decent rate - enough to be able to afford a good bottle of wine for the end of the working day!

The town of Blenheim is pleasant enough if not all that lively. The first place we stayed was pretty awful - had to put a token in the shower to get four minutes of hot water! - but we left there quickly and arrived at a great place called Leeways; a small backpackers hostel but more like a friendly house-share full of people working in the vineyards. I’ve even managed to get in some golf with a few other guys staying here - after several months of not picking up a golf club the swing was a bit rusty; and it wasn’t even that great to begin with in the first place!

Having done a few walks in the Wither Hills and toured the local museum we have definitely learned that the best way to spend our days off is to tour the local wineries. With over 70 to choose from and most offering free samples it beats walking up another damn hill! Using a couple of bicycles to get around it’s easy to get to a good selection in one afternoon but I swear the wobbling on the way home the other day was due to the gale force head-wind and not the five wineries and one brewery we’d just been to!!

The winter pruning season is coming to an end now and we will finish work this week. After a weekend spent watching the Ryder Cup, getting another round in myself and one more winery tour day we will head off to spend three weeks on the road travelling the rest of NZ and spend some of our very hard earned money. Bring on the gallivanting!!

To View photo's please click the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40749&id=100000021481670&l=45baed9fa9

The Bay of Islands and The Far North

Updated by Paul

The bay of Islands is a bit like Bournemouth. No - not a place where old people go to see out there final days and moan about the young people having fun; it’s the place where New Zealanders go for a beach holiday in their own country.

A two hour coach journey northwards from Whangarei (remember in NZ the further north you go the warmer it gets!) and we arrived in Pahia on the wettest day of our trip so far - yep it was just like going to Bournemouth! We chilled out with a few beers and a barbeque (indoors) and took part in a pub quiz. Except instead of just answering questions in this quiz you also got points for swapping clothes with people of the opposite sex. Proving what good strippers we were our team came second!

The next morning we moved to a place called Peppertree Lodge where we hired a cheap car for a couple of days from a great company called Rent-a-Dent! On the first day we drove up to Kerikeri (so good they named it twice) and visited the old Stonestore - one of the oldest buildings in New Zealand. We then drove out to Whangaroa for some spectacular views - particularly after climbing St Paul’s Rock where we encountered a farmer who had lost a couple of his cows (how the hell do cows climb mountains?!). As we looked out at the huge bay full of 144 islands you could see why Captain Cook so imaginatively called this area…The…errrr… Bay of Islands!! On the way back home we drove through a Kauri rainforest then on to Ngawha Springs (pronounced Naffa!) where we soaked in some sulphurous water to heal our aching bones (and certainly clear the nasal passages). As this place was in the middle of nowhere and had walls made of old tyres and stacking crates we did think we had arrived at the wrong place - perhaps it was the local rubbish tip!

The next day we headed up to Cape Reinga. This is a place spiritually important to the Maori people as they believe it is where the deceased spirits jump off the earth back to their mythical homeland. I believe it is a remote place reached by three hours of driving on the twistiest, bumpiest roads possible. The view when you get there is worth it though as you look out from the lighthouse to where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet in a colossal, wave forming clash. On the way back we drove to Ninety Mile Beach - a stretch of beach 54 miles long on the western coast (nope - I don’t know why either). This is a long and straight stretch of beach so suitable for driving on it even has a speed limit. Just don’t get stuck there when the tide comes in!

On the drive back home we stopped at the Gum Diggers park where they used to dig for Amber. Last stop then was to eat some of the best fish and chips in the world in Mangonui - right next to the boat that caught the fish that morning. Mangonui is on Doubtless Bay - so called because Captain Cook had no doubts he could sail his boat into this bay. There is another place in NZ called Doubtful Bay…. A Great one for names was this Captain Cookie! Back in Pahia we gave the car back to Rent-a-Dent - the 1994 Nissan Bluebird had certainly done its job!

The next morning we took a ferry ride across to Russell. This small community used to be called the ‘hell hole of the Pacific’ in the 19th century when all the British Sailors stopped there and it was filled with bars and brothels. Now it is a quaint little fishing village with restaurants and coffee shops. Mind you though there are still bullet holes in the church walls from the muskets in the battle of 1844!

A trip out to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds meant we were able to see the place where the British and Maori people signed the treaty that brought New Zealand into the British Empire in 1840. This treaty is still being debated to this day as the English and Maori language versions say different things. Who would have thought the Victorian British were trying to pull the wool over the eyes of some local inhabitants in a far off country eh?!!

We headed back to Pahia and caught the coach that afternoon back to the big smoke of Auckland where we would spend the next few days job and apartment hunting only to give it all up and fly down to the Marlborough wine-growing region to chase the dream of working in the vineyards!

To view photo's please click the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30793&id=100000021481670&l=7d071543c4