Saddlesores Episode IV

Err...

2007-03-01T11:08:00.000+10:00

I made it back to Wales.
Having dropped from the 36 oC in Meblourne to just 2 oC upon landing in Manchester Airport I think I've aclimatised fairly quickly. The other day I had breakfast without a jumper on, admittedly the place was centrally heated but it's a start.

The proper bitter that comes out of a hand pump and pork scratchings that look like a dead rat fossil are all just as good as I remember.
As luck would have my joy at these two long lost loves lasted only a couple of weeks as I have moved to Skerries, Ireland where, beyond all belief, they don't have them. The only slight compensation is that they do have dry roasted peanuts which is one up on Oz.

As is usually the case I am working in a local pub just to get the oney rolling in. Actually managed to land two jobs in a week before finally selecting the one in a traditional old mans pub which sells 90% Guinness and the odd vodka for the lady.

Anyway, beter run as I start work at 12.. the oub doesn't open until 4pm but I get to potter around and polish things and poke the fire for a few hours first!

Take 'er easy

..leaving on a Jet Plane

2007-01-04T12:12:00.000+10:00

.. but I do know when I'll be back again.

My Australian Odessey is finally over. I have a flight booked to land back in Wales on the 22nd January.

It's kind of felt like time to leave for the past few weeks and I just cant hold out any longer without a decent pint of bitter and bag of pork scratchings... I found my limit of endurance!

Someone please tell me the weather is inclementally warm back home at the moment.....

..back in Melbourne..

2006-12-23T22:17:00.000+10:00

....back in Melbourne and back living in the same hostel as last time in South Melbourne. Not much of any excitement to report, working a bit here and there behind the bar and generally keeping myself busy with odd jobs.

Looking to be home sometime in the New Year with the aim of moving to Canada for a while to have a looksee.

Hope everyone is well, have a Holly Jolly Christmas...

Ads

2006-12-03T08:49:00.000+10:00

This is me and Temuera Morrison, better know as Jake the Muss from 'Once Were Warriors' or for you Star Wars geeks (that's me too!) Jango Fett.

2006-12-03T08:48:00.000+10:00

On the Glacier, freezing.

2006-12-03T08:47:00.000+10:00

I know it isn't the best quality, but in this picture camera and prospective trickery (similar to that used in LOTR) has made it appear that Linda is a giant and me a mere Hobbit sized man... isn't it amazing.

2006-12-03T08:45:00.000+10:00

The beautiful backdrop at Queenstown.

2006-12-03T08:31:00.000+10:00

This is me having just run down the steepest street in the world which is situated in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Kia Ora

2006-11-30T11:52:00.000+10:00

Well, the white water rafting never hapened due to all the rivers being flooded. Apparently they only go when it is upto 200 cubits water (per second or something) and it was a round 1500 at one point dropping down to 600 when we were meant to go.

Have seen alot more of New Zealand though and can honestly say it hass the most beautiful and diverse countryside I have ever seen. The people in New Zealand seem to take themselves a little less seriously than Australians do and aren't quite as full of themselves. There often seems this vibe in Australia that they're tryin to step up and prove they are a World power as important as America, Britain and China whereas everyone in New Zealand seems a little happier just being what they are. The beer us alright a well, anyone who hasn't tried a Speights Gold Medal Ale should do so, it's lovely stuff, had a trott around their brewery in Dunedin and have to say it's the best Brewery Tour I've ever been on.

Spent a few days in Queenstown which looks like a picture postcard of a happy little tourist town next to a big lake in the lou of a stream of spectecalur mountains. Also went walking on a Glacier which was fun... afterwards, at the time is was just bloody freezing and it rained all day. Pretty amazing though as you actually walk through a rainforest to drop onto the Glacier which doesn't seem possible. It is also one of the only Glaciers in the world that in spite of Global Warming is actually advancing and getting bigger.

Crossed over upto to the North Island a couple of days ago and have been holed up in Taupo for a few days. It's been raining all day today but as we managed to bag ourselve a room with a tv, video, dvd player, fridge and internet all for the princely sum of $80 a night (about 26 pounds sterling) it hasn't been so bad. I think I've watched about 8 movies in the last couple of days!

Anywho, better dash, I'll write some more when I get back to Oz in a weeks time,

Take 'er easy,

Ads

Kiwiland

2006-11-17T15:36:00.000+10:00

Just a quick update.... have left Perth and am now in New Zealand. Currently in Christchurch but will be heading off down South tomorrow to go white water rafting.

I'll write a bit more once I've actually seen some stuff... which there is apparetnly alot of here. Will be back in Melbourne for the start of December where we'll be staying for Christmas.

Take it easy everyone... oh, and I will try and start replying to peoples emails when I get a chance, keep them coming as news from home always cheers me up!

Ads

2006-11-17T15:28:00.000+10:00

This is me in my uniform for working at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow in Perth.... uh yeah, I know what you're thinking , I look like a tw*t!

2006-10-19T17:36:00.000+10:00

Though I'd add in a few photos to liven things up a bit. One of the highlights of the trip was going on a jumping Croc tour in Darwin. Here is a pic....

2006-10-19T17:10:00.000+10:00

This is the gang at The Olgas or Kata Tjuta as it's native name goes.

2006-10-19T16:52:00.000+10:00

One of the many confidence inspiring signs around Coober Peedy.

and then....

2006-10-12T22:25:00.000+10:00

Oi Oi,

Sorry I've been a bit slack on the old updates recently. The rest of the tour report will have to wait (possibly for ever) as I haven't got the tim or inclination to write. To be honest it'd probably bore most of you anyway, no one likes just reading reems of 'and then we saw this and it was brilliant' which is basically what it would involve.

Anyway, I've been in Perth for about a month now and managed to get myself two jobs within a day and somehwere to live within a week.
I've been working six days a week delivering the White Pages (telephone directory) to house around Perth. In many ways it's quite hard getting up at 6:30 every morning and working six days a week but, in manys ways it isn't. We basically just get sent out in a van with a map and get fling, or supposedly place, books at peoples letter boxes. With a bit of application you can earn nearly $1000 dollars a week which isn't chicken feed.

That's finished now however so I'll be falling back on my other job which is barwork where I'm quite predicatably working at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow in Perth... who would have guessed!

As for travel updates it looks like I'll be leaving Australia in about a month to visit New Zealand for a few weeks before flying back in to Melbourne for a couple of months to earn some money. Then it's off to live in Texas for three months probably followed by a mooch around Canada... there's no stopping me now!

I'll have to go my money is running out on the internet... take it easy everyone.

Tour Report

2006-10-01T18:45:00.000+10:00

Well, things have finally settled down enough so I can write up a little synopsis of our tour around half of Australia.

We left Melbourne early morning on the 20th of August all full of the joys of spring and excited about the trip ahead. Well... that had been the plan but due to there being a bit of a going away party held the night before we kind of all staggered out of bed a few hours later than planned and wandered around aimlessly like freshly resurrected corpses before finally getting it together enough to leave at about 10am. We sailed out of South Melbourne to the melodious crooning of John Denver's leaving on a Jet Plane with a few tears thinking how we'd probabaly never see ther plkace again. Then we came back about an hour later to pick up all the stuff that we'd forgotten!

Anyway, we odidn't kame great time that first day but we were on the road which is the important thing. After travelling a few hundred km's we decided to camp for the night at Apollo Bay a lovely little spot just on the coast just before the Great Ocean road. It was so calm and such a lovely evening the tents were just casually pitched, not bothering with guides ropes or any of that malarky, before bedding down for an early night. As most people who have been camping have learnt, always peg down you tent properly. Out of nowhere a gale force wind appeared and proceeded to thrash our tents around for the whole night. Our tent proceeded to blow in so hard that the poles kept smacking me in the face and waking me up while Tony and Lyn awoke to rain on their faces as the outer cover had blown completely off. We all learnt a valuable lesson for the rest of the trip that night!

I'll speed things up a bit. After that we travelled the Great Ocean Road and did a helicopter tyour over the Twelve Apostles As pictured below.

We arrived in Adelaide later that day and decided to stay a couple of days in a hostel in Glenelg which is just out of town on the Coast.

Fully rested up we set off to our next stop up throught the middle of Australia, Coober Peedy. This is mad little town which is about 50% under ground and firmly rooted in the 1950's. Famous for it's Opals or as the setting for Mad Max III 'Beyond the Thunderdrome', depending on what impresses you most. Our camp was a little more successful this time although we were starting to discover that trying to hammer pegs into dirt that has been baked hard over a few millenia is far from easy.

Next, up Ayers Rock or Uluru. Not mcuh to say, it's a big rock and we went and looked at it, for the second time on this blog I'll include a token sunset shot. I'll leave the rest of the trip for another day as I'm getting a mite peckish.

...and then Perth

2006-09-18T15:10:00.000+10:00

Oi, oi,

Just to let everyone know I'm still alive. Have just finished a 1 month, 12,000km trek around half of Australia in a Toyota Hiace Van designed for 3 with 5 other people... needless to say it has been interesting.

We've seen kanagaroos, camels, emus, wild horses, goannas, wallabies, mallee fowl, some alive and some dead as well as bush fires and a variety of nutcases. We went right through the middle of the red centre and then down the West Coast before making it to Perth late last night thoroughly sick of all vans and travelling in general.

We've now cleaned out the van, it's raining and I'm off to try and get a job and somewhere to live. Hopefully I'll find time to write in a bit more detail and post some photos in the next week or so.

Take 'er easy...

2006-08-19T20:36:00.000+10:00

Goats head or Frog!?

This is the logo on the mens urinal and sparks up regular debate as to what it is. Personally I'm a Goats head man although the Frog is marginally more popular amongst patrons.

2006-08-19T20:29:00.000+10:00

On the road again....

2006-08-19T20:16:00.000+10:00

Well, the time has come and I'm leaving Melbourne. In two days time on Mondya morning 6 of us set out in a little Toyato Hiace to drive to Adelaide, up the middle to Darwin and then down to Perth over the course of a month.

Not been upto too much in the past few months except working and pottering around Melbourne.

Had a trip down the coast and went to see the rellies down in Bairnsdale. I had hired the cheapest car possible for the trip, a little Hyundai Getz but luckily they had ran out so gave us a Nissan X-Trail instead - result!

Went to watch another AFL match last weekend at the MCG, Sydney Swans (formerly South Melbourne) against Melbourne. We actually had one the Sydney Swans players in the bar at the Hostel after the match catching a few sneaky beers.

Also managed to get on the Carlton Brewery Tour yesterday which is the guys who make Fosters. Did the tour at 2pm and it pretty much all went pear shaped from then on. Not sureprisingly we were the last people in the Brewery Bar and we somehow managed to fit in all ten beers that were on tap. Eventually got back to the Hostel at about 6pm where things slowly became a bleery haze.

Should hopefully have a few sligtly more exciting things to relate once the travels start again.

Take er easy...

2006-08-19T19:50:00.000+10:00

Me, Dunc and Reece behind the bar at the Carlton Brewery

2006-08-05T14:11:00.000+10:00

2006-08-05T13:48:00.000+10:00

Friday Nights Fancy Dress Party

Still kicking...

2006-07-29T14:38:00.000+10:00

Well, it's been a while.

I'm still residing in Melbourne and still working a couple of pub jobs. However, after tonight I will have finished work at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow and will be travelling to Tasmania for a couple of days before coming back to Melbourne for a couple of weeks. Amazingly, myself and Linda have been asked to run the Hostel for a week while the owners going skiing... it was either us or the goldfish, it was a close run thing!

After that I will be back in Melbourne for a futher couple of weeks before setting off to drive up through the middle to Alice Springs, Darwin and then down the West Coast to Perth There is going to be six of us going up in a van including myself, Linda, Fran (a Nurse... quite handy), Ciaron, Tony (a Mechanic... very handy) and Lyn. I'll try and post up a 'team' photo of us all with our wheels when the day of departure comes.

In the meanwhile I managed to get to the MCG to see an AFL match and watched the bottom two teams Essendon and Carlton slog it out to a 105 all draw. The headline the next day read..
'RACE FOR WOODEN SPOON ENDS IN DRAW'

The guy who was meant to be Tour Leader for the day managed to comatose himself for the whole weekend after a particularly heavy Friday night so yours truly was asked to step in. After organising the essentials, a ball to throw around and a take out beer for each man, we set off. After a few spirited rounds of Tram football, our Tram subsequently breaking down, stopping for something to eat and another takeout beer we stumbled into the ground at the end of the first quarter. The stadium is fantastic and I have no qualms about saying it is the best I have ever been to. We'd managed to procure a blond mullet wig for each of us so after watching the match the closely we went outside to play a little AFL with our newly aquired skills. Needless to say that nine blokes running around with a mop of curly white hair trying to play AFL with a little football and several beers on them was only ever going to end in tears. Sure enough after about 5 minutes someone punted up a long ball and Reece, a Southend Geezer, went belting after it keeping his eye on the ball all the way. This was probably his downfall as he then proceeded to flatten a poor little 5ft tall Asian girl into the ground. As far as body checks go it was fairly brutal, possibly due to the 5 stone difference in weight. As good mates do we all melted into the crowd, took our wigs and pretended we'd never met him before in our lives. The poor guy was left on his own in an ever widening circle of disgusted onlookers trying to muster a sincere apology with blond curls falling around his face.

The rest of the return trip was pretty much more of the same so a good time was had by all!

Nothing much else to report. Since winning the Pool Comp I've manaeged to bomb out in the first round ever since and have also developed a nasty habit of coming second instead of first in the quiz.

Take 'er easy,

Ads

2006-07-11T20:09:00.000+10:00

Even managed to get Colwyn Bay on the map!

2006-07-11T20:05:00.000+10:00

Possibly my biggest achievment in the last 12 months. A hundred dollar drink card and my name written in chalk on a board!

Cheating bloody Ities...

2006-06-27T18:13:00.000+10:00

After watching the Croatian game in Federation Square with around 20,000 other people I really had a good feeling about advancing another stage. The atmosphere was amazing and yet again we dserved to win and were victims of some dodgy refereeing... and then last night... I can't believe it, with 5 second remaining the overacting football shysters managed to get a penalty to sneak into the Quarters... there were a few tears in the pub last night and any Italians around soon made themselves scarce at the end of the game. It also looks like England are going ot sneak into the Semi's without even playing a decent game as they'll be up against a severely depleted Portugal team next Saturday.

Anyway, enough football bitterness... roll on the Ashes! Actually on the issue of the Ashes I haven't managed to get hold of any tickets. Despite being a member of the 'Australian Cricket Family' which supposedly gives me priority I wasn't able to get through by phone or on the internet as the network was constantly rammed. Looks like I'll have to wait until Cricket becomes a bit less popular again in a few years time!

Worked another Neighbours night last night and met Toady, Ned and Stef and was also treated to Dr Carl's and his band the Waiting Room playing afterwards... uh, they were crap to be honest. I have a day off today for the first time in a week but as I only got in from work at 7:30am this morning, have spent most of it in bed, and am then I'm back in work at 6am tomorrow to get rid of all the kegs at the pub, it hasn't really felt like it.

Not much else to report really. I have a couple of days off Thursday, Friday so we're planning on hitting the Crown Casino on Thurday night (apparently the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere) not to gamble but just to wrok our way around the 17 bars they have on site... should be interesting!

As they say, sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes he eats you.

Neighbours

2006-06-22T16:57:00.000+10:00

Just a quick update that I know will interest all you people back home. I am working at a pub called the Elephant and Wheelbarrow in St Kilda which also happens to be the venue for 'Neighbours' night on a Monday. As some of you may know this entails several of the cast members coming and mingling with the paying public for a few hours. Last Monday I had the pleasure of working behind the bar while the night unfolded and met Boyd, Max and Ginnel. It was surreal to say the least, a bunch of British and Irish girls slugging back several hundred bottles of white wine, singing the Neighbours theme tune repeatedly and screaming madly as a couple of minor soap Celebrities wandered around the pub posing for photgraphs. Max actually stayed for most of the night and got hammered slugging back Tequila slammers at the bar before staggering off swearing to himself - brilliant.

I'm working it again next Monday so I'll keep you updated.

Take 'er easy

2006-06-22T16:47:00.000+10:00

This is the hostel footy team getting in a bit of pre-match practice. We played in a mini-world cup and after a few dodgy decisions (isn't there always) lost on goal difference. You'll notice I refused to wear the the team 'Liverpool' strip but luckily had my Wales top with me!

Melbourne

2006-06-17T15:09:00.000+10:00

...Worlds most livable City?

I can understand why it won this title a few years ago as the place is great. I'v been living here for about 2 weeks now and still keep discovering something new and interesting each day as I wander around differentparts of the City. I'm currently stying in a backapckers in South Melbourne called 'Bev and Mick's' which is a little hostel/bar full of friendly people (and more importantly reasonably cheap beer!) and is just across the road from South Melbourne Markets which is great.

I have a job at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow in St Kilda and am working the next three days inculding Monday which is Neighbours night. For those of you who are unitiated this is where several of the stars of the show turn uip and mingle with the general public for a price... should be interesting if nothing else! Apparently the guy who plays Toadie was banned from coming for a while after being caught 'inflagrante delicto' with several patrons in the toilets, lets hope I don't get sued for libel after writing this!

Anyway, not much else of importance to report, just plodding along enjoying life as it comes.

Take 'er easy.

2006-06-09T15:43:00.000+10:00

I was just wandering along in the middle of Melbourne when I saw a sign saying 'Welsh Church'. Intrigued I went in the direction indicated and found a.... um.... Welsh Church - brilliant!

2006-06-09T15:23:00.000+10:00

On the way down...

2006-06-09T15:19:00.000+10:00

Me scared...? Never!

2006-06-09T15:16:00.000+10:00

Coogee Bay by night

2006-06-09T15:15:00.000+10:00

Sunset up on the point at Coogee

..on the road again....

2006-06-03T16:20:00.000+10:00

Just a quick update.

I made it to Sydney and have been staying in Coogee for the last week. I'm staying a thirty second walk from the beach and more importantly a twenty second walk from the nearest bottleshop and pub. It's nice to be back on the coast and smell the sea air again and the scenery is fantastic.

Having said that I leave for Melbourne tomorrow morning. Basically work has been quite hard to come by in Sydney and it is far from being my favourite City. It's just a little too big for a simple country boy like me! I pretty much have a job lined up ready in Melbourne working in a bar during the World Cup with the only down side being that it is even colder down in Melbourne than it is up in Sydney. I know it sounds like I'm just moaning for no reason but trust me, while it may have been 7 oC last night it felt as cold as any below freezing mid-winters day in Wales as it lashed with rain for twenty four hours.

Anyway, the exciting news for today is that after getting up at 5:40 am this morning to catch a bus out to a little airstrip in the middle of nowhere I went up in a plane to 14,000ft and then jumped out of it! I can't even begin to describe the sheer exhilaration of voluntarily throwing yourself out of a plane at that height and then hanging in the air with seemingly the whole world spread out before you. I will posting up some pictures soon of my face rippling in the wind as I plummit towards the ground at 120km plus. If you ever get a chance I can't recommend it high enough, it is the ultimate thrill ride!

That'll do for now, I'll post up some pictures soon and will write another update once I've settled in my new City/State... I should be in this one for at least a month... but then you never know!

Take 'er easy,

Leaving on a Jet plane...

2006-05-25T11:15:00.000+10:00

..don't know when I'll be back again.

Well, I've worked (am working it now in fact) my last day in the library at Griffith University and can't say I'm sad to go.

During my 11 weeks there I worked 42 days, made 32 paper cranes, 3 paper airplanes, one rubber band ball (measuring nearly 10cm in diameter), did 27 daily crosswords, 11 Sudoku's, 1 Samurai Sudoku (cheers Jim), 5 New Scientist Enigma puzzles and sent several hundred emails of which less than ten were work related. I also taught myself the first verse and chorus of the Welsh National Anthem in Welsh and English, managed to get several hours sleep at different times by hiding in the back stacks and still left with them thinking I did a great job!
Rather than a reflection of my own abilities this is probably a bad inditement on the quality of the rest of the work force....

I leave for the cold climate of Sydney with just a bag full of clothes, a bit of money in the bank and an open mind full of an all embracing love of my fellow man... err yeah.. that's actually a complete lie, I'm pretty intolerant, some might quite justifiably say ignorant... most people annoy me on sight... especially people who order anything other than a pint from me when I'm working in a pub..... and sometimes even the pint drinkers.

Anyway, I'll be staying in contact with everyone a little more sporadically now I don't have a job where I sit in front of a computer surfing the net all day.

Just remember I'm not a backpacker, I'm a 'Gentleman Traveller' and while I may be carrying my possesions in a backpack there is large difference between me and them... which is basically that I'm a better class of person!

Story Bridge

2006-05-17T10:56:00.000+10:00

Story Bridge

2006-05-17T10:54:00.000+10:00

Swines...

2006-05-17T10:42:00.000+10:00

It looks like I'm going to be getting severely fleeced in the car selling stakes. Took it to the garage to get a Safety Certificate, which is similar to an MOT, which you need to havein order to sell a car privately. Turns out it needs about $1000 worth of work on it to pass. Plus the rego is up soon so if I want it to sell really need to stick another 6months on at $400....after all this I'd still have a car I don't want and might be able to sell it $3000-$3500. The only other option is to take it to a car yard and get paid massively below what it's worth. Looked in at one yesterday and was offered $1500 which is at least half what the car is worth. The sad thing is I'll probably end up taking some offer at a similar level to that one.

On a more positive note, I climbed the Story Bridge last night. Managed to be up the top as the sun set which was pretty spectacular. Even better, while at the top a Shooting Star blazed a trail across the sky of Brisbane.. talk about lucky!

Looks like I'll be all set to fly out of Brisbane a week on Friday to set up shop in Sydney for a while. Spent all this morning at work forging a fake Invoice to say I've had my carpets steam cleaned as it's in the rental contract that it needs to be done when I leave. Must say I'm quite pleased with the end result.... there could be a career in forgery ahead of me!

Going, going....

2006-05-12T12:31:00.000+10:00

Well, I finally handed in my notice at the Library on Monday. I finish on the 26th May so have just two weeks left of work. I've also given notice on my flat and move out of there on the following Monday, the 29th. Not sure exactly when I'll get to leave Brissie as it all depends on whether I can get the car sold or not. Being looking into the market a bit and for the price I'm asking it should sell fairly quickly... fingers crossed.

It seems like I have a million and one things to try and sort out in the next couple of weeks. I've acquired a plethora of useless things while in Brisbane, including alot of pub promo crap from work that is basically just going to be given away. Fitting just the bare essentials, such as clothes, into my backpack again is looking like a challenge. I need to cancel the phone, internet, gas, electricity, RAC, Insurance and change my address for the bank, tax office and 3 superannuation accounts.....uh, I'll stop boring you all there.

Not much else to report. While Brisbane is possibly the nicest place I've lived and I'll be sad to leave I just can't wait to move on now. Looks like I'll be heading down to Sydney next but as for any plans after that I couldn't really tell you any specifics...

Take care all,

2006-05-08T08:05:00.000+10:00

Not sure how clear this is but after lying down on the beach and accidently falling asleep I left a 'sand angel' behind.

2006-05-08T08:04:00.000+10:00

Me, wiped out on the beach.

2006-05-08T08:03:00.000+10:00

Me on the beach with Caloundra in the background.

Bribie Island

2006-05-08T08:01:00.000+10:00

It was 13oC this morning when I got up, a chilly 13oC and I was cold. I had to wear a jacket and put the heating on in the car on the way to work… does this sound like the actions you should be taking when living in sub-tropical Brisbane!?

Took a trip to Bribie Island on Sunday courtesy of a mate of mine called Andrew who I play football with during the week. After only getting to bed at 4am after work Saturday night I wasn’t best pleased about getting up at 8am the following morning and seriously contemplated turning my phone off and going back to sleep, but, I’m glad to say I didn’t.
You can’t actually drive on the beach at Bribie in a normal car (well you can but you’d get stuck and look like a tit) so I parked up and joined him in his new four wheel drive. I actually think the trip was only in aid of taking it off ‘sealed’ roads thereby justifying its purchase!
We met up with several other recreational four wheel drivers and ploughed down the beach in search of some WW2 ruins dotted along the coast. We parked up at the top end and following an extremely vague map and directions set off walking into the sand dunes. Ten minutes, several mosquito bites and a mild laceration to the leg later we came to a dead end in the bush with no WW2 ruins in sight and three crying children in tow. After brief consultation between the men, involving turning the map around and pointing in various directions, we went back, drove half a km down the beach and stopped off at the clearly visible path direct to Bribie Fort and dismissed all the other ruins.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around on the beach idling the day away. Had a BBQ, did a little fishing, played some football, flew a kite and fell asleep for an hour on the beach.
When I got home at 6pm I was so tired from my day’s exertions that I pretty much went straight to bed.

Life just seems to get tougher every day!

It's small world....but I wouldn't want to have to paint it

2006-05-02T11:34:00.000+10:00

Was stood at a bar the other day when a guy, noticing my Lancaster University t-shirt, turned to me and said he went there as well but was in a different college. I smiled, made minor chit chat and then walked away. To be honest it’s not a major coincidence as he was the third person I’d met in Brisbane who’d also gone to Lancaster Uni. However, about half an hour later we met at the bar again and he asked where I was from originally:

“North Wales” I replied and waited for the generic response along the lines of either ‘I’ve been to Wales’ or ‘I’ve got a mate from Wales maybe you know him’. Not this time….

“Not Colwyn Bay by any chance…?” he continued

“Uh… yeah, why?” I asked, a little confused by this stage and starting to wonder whether this was some crazy person who’d followed me across the world.

“I’m your next door neighbour”

You just can't escape it.....

2006-04-27T22:13:00.000+10:00

Me pouring a pint.

2006-04-27T07:40:00.001+10:00

Clocking a pose on the beach!

Life is tough but you just have to live it...

2006-04-27T07:40:00.000+10:00

G'day,

Just though I'd bore you all with a quick update on what I've been upto.

I had Tuesday off for ANZAC Day and also took the Wednesday day off work on flexi -time, I don't think I've worked a full week in over a month. Went off camping down the coast and stayed at Southport on the Monday evening which is next to Surfers Paradise. After an evening spent lounging around drinking beer, in true blue camper style we boycotted the beans and noodles that had been brought along and went to KFC for an evening feed. Due to the shock of fresh air everyone had tapped out and was fast alseep for midnight. We headed off to a beach at Surfers on the Tuesday and spent the day intermittantly swimming, running around and soaking up the sun, oh, and a few beers of course. The surf was actually fairly lively and I managed to get myself dumped several times in a futile effort to get past where they were breaking to try and catch one. I still have sand in my ears now!

Not much else to report, life just potters on. I work about 55 hours over 6 days a week including Friday and Saturday night and spend at least 4 out of the remaining 5 nights in the pub. I play Football twice a week, squash once and get an average of 6 hours sleep a night if I'm lucky, eat at least one apple a day and one kebab a week. Oh, and I'm thinking of running the Gold Coast half-marathon, or at least doing a bit of training for it although I'm not sure if I'll still be in Brisbane when it runs.

I'm slowly toning down my debauched lifestyle of late nights and booze in order to give my liver a rest and also save up some money for when I leave Brisbane. I even managed to stay in last night even though there was a few mates just 5 minutes down the road in the pub - I'm a rock I tell you!

It's May Day next Monday so I get another 4 day week at the library - wuhoo, with a bit of skulduggery I might be able to make it so that I don't work a full week from now until I leave.

Take 'er easy,

Sadler

Unbelievable....

2006-04-18T10:33:00.000+10:00

I was just sat having my morning repast of a meat pie like a true Australian when tragedy struck. Lounging in a wicker chair outside the café I was about half way through my pie and feeling quite satisfied with myself. I had my hand cocked in the air to avoid spilling meat and sauce down my work clothes when with a rush of air a Kookaburra dive bombed me from behind. It ripped the pie out my hand perfectly and then proceeded to sit only about a foot in front of me to polish it off stopping only to periodically stare me down and whack his beak on the ground in triumph. To be honest I was too shocked to do anything and just sat for five minutes with a slight frown on my face watching him eat it.... then he flew off.

I have of late, wherefor I know not....

2006-04-11T18:44:00.000+10:00

Howdy one and all,

Don't really have much to say but just thought I'd put a rambling discourse up to let everyone know I'm still alive. Not been upto much accept going to work, earning some money and then swiftly converting it into amber liquid before drinking it and sending it down the plug hole a few hours later!

Was out having a few 'quiet' ones on Sunday with one of my fellow stalwarts (who looks like Monkey from Monkey Magic) when we both decided it was time to cut down on the beer for financial and liver function reasons and as such put a cap of 'home for midnight' on the evening. After shaking on our new found resolution we got a load more beers in while they were still cheap (sound financial sense) and then proceeded to stay out until 3am... absolutely no willpower! Needless to say I wasn't feeling the best when I got up for work 3 hours later.

My plan as it stands at the moment is to try and save up a few grand and then set off for Perth in mid-June. Not sure on the exact details yet but I'll either fly straight there or bum down the coast a bit first. Depending on how I find it I'll probably live there for a few months before deciding on my next destination. As a side plan I'm getting my harmonica sent out (which I can play rudimentally) so I can earn a living making noise pollution as a busker! Who says I have no direction.....

I'll try and whack up a few pictures of something in the next week or so.

Oh, and I think Brisbane might be the midget capital of the world, maybe it's just me but I see them everywhere..... I know I have problem, recognising this is half of the solution.

Take 'er easy,

News

2006-03-31T07:32:00.000+10:00

There is no easy way to say this and I expect most of you already know. Me and Rachael have split up and she flew home last week. I'm not going to go into any details but it was my decision and wasn't taken at all lightly. While extremely upsetting it was completely amiable and we are still friends but if you feel the need to assign blame and offer sympathy then do the latter for Rachael and the former to me.

I'm staying in Brisbane for the immediate future to figure out what I want to do and save some money. More travel is top of my list right now. I have a yearning to see Russia where my name becomes Adam Alanovich - it has such a nice ring to it!

I'll keep updating the blog periodically although I expect I've now lost over half my audience.

Take her easy....

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS...

2006-03-16T07:02:00.000+10:00

After a hard fought season we ended up winning the lot. For winning the league we got 'Premiership' medals and then the top four teams play in the finals (something which they have in every league in Oz) which we won also making us 'Champions' with another medal to boot. Yes, my face is the reddest, but then I ran around more than anyone else.

Everyone from Chadwick library will remember me looking like that after Staff football on a Friday anyway!

Lunch

2006-03-08T23:00:00.000+10:00

Pie, chips and a beer.

I wont see the likes of these days again any time soon.

Day Job = Sandwitches

Isn't she a beaut...!?

2006-03-08T03:02:00.000+10:00

I have a new project.

As most of you know I'm not really happy unless I have something to do and with this in mind I have undertaken the job of fixing up the bike pictured above. It belongs to my Cousin Scott who has kindly lent it to me while I'm in Brisbane. It wasn't actually in that bad shape and could have been made road worthy with just a couple of new tyres and some oil. However, after taking a few bits off, and noticing a few things that needed fixing I made the plunge and decided to take it apart completely and rebuild it. Rachael is extremely pleased about our lounge being turned into my bike workshop as well!

Don't worry Scott, I promise it'll still work when I'm finished.

Oh, and as of today I'm a quarter of a century old - boo hoo. However, like a fine wine I'm only getting better with age (although I'm having to trim my nose hair with alarming regularity these days)!

Legal again

2006-03-05T07:04:00.000+10:00

After putting it off for the last few months and, as we were now driving illegally over here, we took our driving theory test yesterday to convert to Queensland Driving Licences. If you think back to your theory test in the UK where you took the test in silence at your own little desk, that was like doing a school exam. Over here you stand around wherever there's a space at the Queensland department of transport customer service centre with people in and out for all sorts of things. So after confering on a few answers we were both rewarded with a score of 30 out of 30, 100% and our new licences!

I'm quite jealous missing out on all the snow you guys are having at home. Its still quite suprising how few people over here have seen snow, even though they get it in Victoria, NSW and Tassie. My class were awestruck when I showed them photos from Adam's mum and dad. The weather here's been pretty terible for the past week. Its been windy and raining and I even had to wear a jumper to work on Friday! It definitely reminds me of Lancaster. But hopefully it'll get back to blazing sunshine and 30C heat before too long.

Skype

2006-03-05T02:12:00.000+10:00

Just thought I'd let everyone know about a great little program called Skype which allows you to make phone calls over the internet. It's free to download from www.skype.com and basically all you need is a microphone and some speakers. It's free to phone other Skype users, anywhere in the world, and you can also make calls to landlines and mobile phones for a cost. It's pretty cheap and costs us just $ 0.021 (or £ 0.012) a minute to phone a U.K. landline.

We're hoping to get our parents onto Skype as well and then we'll be able to ring home for free.

You'll need to have a broadband connection but after that it's all free.

If anyone signs up our username is : saddlesores

Remember, you heard it here first!

Just noticed how many times I've used the word free - apologies!

2006-03-03T20:39:00.000+10:00

Nothing to do with Australia but this is a picture from back in the motherland taken out of my old bedroom window of our front garden. Apparently it's the worst snow for this time of year that they've had in over a decade with most of the schools and minor roads shut down.

Back where I belong....

2006-03-02T22:49:00.000+10:00

Well, some good news. I went for an interview for a job working in the Serials team at Griffith University Library on Tuesday and got a call today offering me the position. I know they checked my references so many thanks to Anne whom I'm guessing gave me a good one!

I start work in two weeks, full time for two months probably dropping to part time after that..., and the best part is I'm back on flexi time - wuhoo! This means I'll be stopping work at the bar in a couple of weeks and Rachael doesn't have to be a Pub widow anymore, something she was getting quite sick of!

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus

2006-03-01T22:02:00.000+10:00

I failed to find a daffodil but I am going to have leek soup for lunch.

Although, St David... wasn't he one of the guys who spread Christianity among the Pagan Celtic tribes throughout western Britain around 500 A.D? I don't know about you but I'd much rather be a Pagan, all that raping and pillaging, eating red meat and drinking mead - now that's how life should be lived!

Nosferatu

2006-03-01T00:53:00.000+10:00

Well I returned home the other day to find a parking ticket under my windscreen wiper. As the car was parked on our road which we have a permit for I immediately rang the Council to complain figuring some gung-ho ticket attendant had done it by mistake. Lo and behold I was actually in the wrong, who could have believed it! The ticket was for a 'parallel parking violation'. It's actually illegal to park with the right side of your car nearest the kerb as I had as it means you've crossed a line of traffic. That little piece of information cost me $50 the bastards.

After having talked up our chances and made several bets with my Irish work colleagues I went out to watch the Wales vs Ireland game full of hope only to see a pitiful performance. The only icing on the cake was the fact that Scotland managed to beat England the day before. As Wales are out of the running now I hope Scotland go onto to win it, anything's better than England or France! Anyway, after the match we moved onto the Casino for a few drinks and met a self proclaimed Vampire. By day a slightly geeky looking American, by night a member of the dark brotherhood- who'd have guessed. He even tried to recruit one of the guys I was with to his dark ways saying they should go and 'feed' together and then offered his neck as an appetiser. Although his teeth looked completely normal he assured us that they were actually very sharp and perfect for plunging into the neck of people. Nothing beats a little freak show to liven your night up.
After a further gallon of beer the rugby, and most things barring where the next beer was coming from and if a Kebab shop would still be open, seemed of little importance. I managed to keep going until about 7am at which time my body rebelled and shut itself down for several hours. By the time I got home Rachael had already left for work - oops!

Beer

2006-02-23T04:01:00.000+10:00

Rachael has told me not to post this as apparently most people are bored of my ramblings about beer and cricket. But, I figure, if you don't want to read it you don't have to. Personally I think this is just the sort of inciteful, cut and thrust information that everyone wants to know -

How do I order a beer!?

(without looking like an ignorant foreigner)

After travelling through several states I'm just starting to understand how it all works so here goes.

The beer comes in three basic forms , light beer, midway and heavy. Heavy is basically what we class as your normal larger back home, between 4% and 6% alcohol, although it's often referred to as bitter. Light is often just watered down heavy beer coming in at 2.5% and uh... midway is somewhere in the middle. Australia's leading beer (highest selling) is VB (Victoria Bitter) which is a reasonable larger that anyone at all snobbish about their beer turns their nose up at it claiming it tastes awful - pig swill. This is pretty much a lie and being a barman I've had the perfect opportunity to establish the fact. Preying on the clienteles ignorance I have often sold on VB in substitute to supposed experts, they never complain! Anway, you will here this about most of Australia's local beers with it varying depending on what state you are in. As a connoiseur myself I'd say most of them are alright although Boags Premium from Tassie is the best lager.

Anyway, down to the nuts and bolts. In Queensland a half is a 'Pot' and in some places a 'Ten Ounce', most pubs don't sell pints but instead sell 'Schooners' (2/3 of a pint, 420ml). If you go to an Irish pub they only sell halfs and pints. In Northern Territory a 'Pot' is a 'Handle' you still get 'Schooners' but you also get 'Sevens' (7 ounce) which are slightly smaller than a half. New South Wales isn't too different except a 'Pot' is a 'Middy' and they sell 'Ponys' which is a quarter of a pint. In Tasmania they have have 'Tens' (10 ounce) which is a half, 'Eights', 'Sixes' and 'Small Beers' (which is less than a quarter of a pint - madness). Now in South Australia a 'Pint' is the size of 'Schooner' and a 'Schooner' is the size of a 'Pot', they also have a 'Butchers' which is a bit smaller than a half. Victoria is fairly simple with 'Schooners' and 'Pots' but they also have 'Glasses' which are the same size as a 'Butchers' and 'Small Glasses' which are smaller again. In Western Australia, where we haven't been yet, a 'Pot' is a 'Pint' and they have 'Bobbie', 'Pony' and 'Shetland' which all are all smaller than a half and get progressively smaller.

Conclusion : When in doubt just ask for a beer. You will get given the local choice, which will avoid any possible ramifications of choosing a beer frowned upon by the natives (they can get quite patriotic about their chosen brew out in the stix), and they'll sort out the size for you.

2006-02-23T03:45:00.000+10:00

On our way out Saturday evening to celebrate Rachael's brithday. Due to my own lack of sleep the night before and the excertions of enjoying ourselves at Dreamworld we only made it to about 9:30pm before calling it a night, age must be catching up.

PS : All comments, derogatory or otherwise, are welcome on my new chin warmer!

2006-02-23T03:37:00.000+10:00

Here we are at Dreamworld after having been on 'Wipeout' the ride behind us.

2006-02-23T03:29:00.000+10:00

Uh... I think one of those beer was mine!

2006-02-23T03:19:00.000+10:00

Me and some fellow idiots at the Gabba watching the cricket.

Long time, no.... er, update

2006-02-21T22:00:00.000+10:00

It's been a while since anythings been added but not to worry, we are both still alive and enjoying the incessantly sunny 30 oC days (sorry just had to mention the weather again!). We've been trying to sort out getting on the internet at home with a variety of problems which began with having them having to drag a cable up the road just to connect the phone. In conclusion you don't realise how lucky you all are with BT as the Australian equivalent, Telstra, is as they say in Bolton, absolute bobbins!

Went to watch the final of the VB Cricket series between Australia and Sri Lanka at the GABBA last week. One of the guys who I went with decided we should all dress up and after an uninspired visit to the fancy dress shop we got kitted out in green and gold wigs and a big Islamic style beard (there should be a photo appearing soon). Some guy in the ground asked if this was a political statement about the insemination of Islamic culture into Australia to which I had to reply "no, we just thought it would look stupid!".
We were sat on the front row and apparently we made it onto TV several times and apart from nearly getting thrown out for inciting a Mexican Wave (which is now illegal as it incourages violence apparently) had a brilliant time. I even managed to sell my wig for $20 outside the ground making a clear $10 profit - result!

Oh, and Australia won.... easy.

It was Rachael's birthday last Friday so we went to Dreamworld, which is a Theme Park on the Gold Coast, on the saturday. Due to working the night before and then staying up drinking and talking nonsense with my co-workers I only managed to get 2 hours sleep which kind of dulled the edge of many of the rides as I kept trying to get some sleep whenever I sat down! Please feel free to mock Rach for being old and past it as she is now the grand old age of 27, before you know it she'll be an adult and everything!

I'm still working at the pub around the corner basically because the money is quite good and I'm too lazy to get a proper job. Just remember, I'm a Beer Delivery Technician not a mere Barman.

Been playing indoor soccer every Tuesday and have managed since joining to rocket our team from mid-table mediocrity to the top of the table, what can I say modesty gets you nowhere and I take full responsibilty!

Well that's about all the news I think of right now, should be updating a bit more often now we're t'internet enabled at home.

Take 'er easy, you know I am!

p.s. - If anyone wants Ashes tickets they go on sale at the start of June here, the more the merrier.

...and a Happy New Year

2006-01-16T00:59:00.000+10:00

It's been a while but then we haven't got a great deal to report. Just been settling into our life in Brisbane, going to work and what not.

We had a good night on New Years and went to a Thai restuarant in New Farm along with Cousin Scott and Kitty and about 30 of their friends. Ended up back at their place where we drunk ourselves steadily into a stupour before heading home - all in all a result!

Those of you who aren't interested in cricket can skip this paragraph. We have also mnade our frist trip to the Gabba where we watched Australia take on South Africa in their first 20-20 match. Not surprisngly we gave the RSA a good kicking in a highly entertaining match.

Rachael has had a promotion of sorts in her job and is now the Prep teacher (4 and 5 year olds) which means she no longer has to deal with nappies and toilet training. I'm still working in the pub as I'm yet to hear anything from the jobs I've been applying for. The money is pretty good though as they pay penalty rates on the weekend meaning for 40 hours work I practically earn more than I was in the U.K.

We've both become pretty acclimatised to the heat now and I think I could quite happily live without air-conditioning, Rachael would tell you otherwise of course.

A quick note about the upcoming 2006 Ashes. It looks like you guys in the U.K. are going to find it pretty tough to get tickets. We can get 6 tickets per match (I think/hope!) otherwise you can just use our address in Australia to buy tickets yourself - if anyone wants in just drop me an email.

As soon as interesting things start happening again I'll keep you all in the loop.

Take care,

Sunburn is a traditional Christmas colour....

2005-12-27T21:59:00.000+10:00

Christmas day has come and gone and in traditional Australian manner we spent part of it on the beach. We went to Bribie Island with cousin Scott and Kitty and alternatively sat around munching on food and jumping about in the surf. Despite liberally applying sunscreen a couple of times throughout the day we both managed to get a good dose of sunburn to enjoy Boxing Day with. I knew it was going to happen eventually and I suppose we did quite well lasting 6 months before having a lapse and swapping our aple skin for a lovely lobster red shade. I'm guessing all you folks back home managed to avoid a similar fate unless you got a dose of snowburn (did anyone get snow chirstmas day?), or drove around with your head out the window and got windburn.

Due to our respective burns we've been trying to stay indoors the last couple of days to avoid further hurt. The Christmas TV over here is pretty dire but luckily for me the Boxing Day Test is being televised live so my days have been taken care of.

Unfortunatly I'm working tonight where I'll get to serve dodgy pints to unsuspecting customers. Amazingly Tetleys and Boddingtons Bitter is a quite rare in Brisbane and as such expensive (three pound a pint) despite the fact that it comes out looking like a pint of cold tea (reminiscent of bitter when you go down South). Looks like I'll have to wait until I return back North for a decent drink.

Enjoy the New Year everyone.

2005-12-27T21:52:00.000+10:00

Despite the 35oC heat, dehydration and sunburn we still managed a traditional full Christmas dinner in the evening.

Merry Christmas

2005-12-24T14:32:00.000+10:00

Just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope you all have a fantastic 2006. We're going to be having a very unfestive day - off to the beach, with no presents or decorations....but who needs all that in this weather! Apparently its going to be 38C over the weekend. Hopefully by the time we get back in the evening it'll be cool enough to start cooking as we've already got our turkey with all the trimmings. But it'll all be ok as we've got our crate of beer (plus the ones Adam got free from the pub as a chrissy present) and isn't that what Christmas is all about...

Welsh and proud.....

2005-12-20T19:06:00.000+10:00

Just a quick update.

I've been working a few different jobs in the last week or so. Spent a few days out near the airport throwing coat hangers around and then a couple of days at a warehouse unpacking boxes of paper cups and bags. As of tomorrow I start work at a pub just around the corner from where we live called 'The Elephant and Wheelbarrow'. It is a British themed pub that is mildly reminiscent of pubs back home except that it is too clean and friendly. Not my ideal choice of working venue but it beats getting covered in shit every day (get covered in beer instead which is good for the skin!) and I get to wear a badge saying I'm from Wales which is great as it should stop people assuming I'm English (who wants to be English unless they have to!?).

We took our First Aid qualification on the weekend which was fairly tedious as it took two full days but could have easily been covered in one. I hate to boast (actually I love it) but in the test at the end only myself and Rachael got full marks. The only other teacher in the room failed (but they let him pass anyway so what's the point?) which just goes to show any idiot can teach!

That's about it really. Hope everyone has a great festive period, if anyone wants us we'll be on the beach drinking beer.

Don't ever call me a dingo...

2005-12-10T00:14:00.000+10:00

Well it's been a while I know. I've been busy working like a dog, fulfilling the job of a trained ape that even a fish would grow bored of in 3 seconds. Luckily, as of today, I've finished my purgatory in the oily depths of Geebung largely thanks to the fact that Rachael has started work. This means I can hold out for something a little better and take over the role homemaker for the next week!
Rachael has a job as a Group Leader at a day care centre looking after 2 and 3 year olds, she even has her own assistant to order around which is a level I can only dream of apsiring to.
Storm season has well and truly hit Brisbane. Last night I had to run down a full wheely bin in the middle of the storm as it headed out in to the main oad. Despite it raining several times a week though, and some places being flooded out we still have drought restrictions, apparently the rain has been falling in the wrong place, i.e. not in the dams. It must be the wettest drought in history!

Australia as a country seems to be extremely fond of certificates and buracratic qualifications. If you go for a job as a house painter, have never painted a house but have several pieces of paper that say you've done a course on optimum paint stroke angles and bristle types you'll get the job over someone with 20 years experience. I'm thinking of inventing a few certificates to put on my CV as a way of actually getting a job. They wont even let your work behind a bar here without several bits of paper saying you can do it. Anway, we're both completing a First Aid qualification next weekend which should help and I've applied for a couple of library jobs pretty much doing what I did in Bolton. Should be good for an interview at least.

I've also taken up Yoga which I'm teaching myself out of a book. So far I can manage, with great pain, to get one leg into place for the lotus position. Not bad for a fortnights work!

...and finally a smug note about the temperature, we're just experiecing our first summer heat wave and it's been around 35oC all week. I here it's been in the negative back in the motherland :)

2005-11-29T05:21:00.001+10:00

A bit of a moody lighting shot of our kitchen which helps hide the fact that it aint really that nice!

2005-11-29T05:21:00.000+10:00

This is the master bedroom... in fact the only bedroom. As I'm now in Australia I wander around topless wearing a cowboy hat as much as possible in order to fit in!

2005-11-29T05:20:00.000+10:00

Well, this is our lounge come dining room. We bought the T.V. on the weekend from a garage sale for $180 (about 80 pounds).

One person's bad luck can be another's good fortune!

2005-11-18T21:32:00.000+10:00

Well one of us now has a job and, fortunately for me, its Sadler. In a fit of desperation he went to register with an employment agency on Tuesday and got his first week's work starting on Wednesday. He's working in a warehouse putting lids on cartons of oil, stacking them on palletts and wrapping them in clingfilm! And the best part about it is that he has to start work at 6am (although he does finish at 2:30 and 12 on Fridays). So for the last two mornings I've waved him off at 5:30 and gone back to bed for an extra 4 hours uninterupted kip. But I don't know how lon this is going to last as I've got an interview on Monday with Select Education for some work over Christmas until I get my registration with the Queensland Board of Education. It's suprising how difficult it is to actually become a teacher in Oz - they'll take anyone in the UK compared to over here!

Our flat's starting to look a bit more habitable now. We're pretty much completely furnished (apart from a TV or other form of entertainment) although we had a bit of a fright with our gas cooker which started to billow smoke from the grill and shoot out sparks! Photos coming soon.

Anyway, I'm off to wander around town and have a sunbathe in the park - its awesome being unemployed!

Reality Sucks

2005-11-16T01:26:00.000+10:00

Well we made it back to Brisbane. After leaving Darwin on the Wednesday we managed to travel about 6000km crossing 6 states in the course of 6 days. The two day trip back down to Adelaide on the Ghan soon lost it's luster once we were bedding down for our second nights sleep on the trot sitting up. The day after arriving back in Adelaide we drove 11ookm's (hmm... about 700 miles) straight through to Bairnsdale setting off at 6am and arriving 6pm that night. Although due to the different time zones we only actually spend 11 hours on the road.

We stayed the night with my Aunty Shirley and Uncle Terry again and the following day we were in attendance at an impromptu family gathering with Gran, Cousin Craig and Jodi and their two children Jake and Hayley all came around for lunch. About 30 pasties and several bottles of home made tomate relish later (I only had one honest although someone scoffed four, naming no names..... Craig!), we set off for Canberra where we were staying the night with Rachael's Aunty Leslie. We were treated to our first BBQ in Australia which was lovely and in the coming week was to be looked back upon fondly as it signalled our last night of nice food and comfort for a while.

The following day we drove towards Brisbane getting about as far as Tamworth before turning in for the night. We were in Brisbane by 11am the following day and after checking in at our hostel started looking for somewhere to live. It soon became apparent that all properties in our intended suburb, the West End, were about double what we wanted to pay. After all the fun of travelling around, seeing new things and enjoying ourselves the reality of real life hit rather hard. We both went to sleep that night in a minor depression reflecting on how tough we had it!

Things are looking up though. It's now a week since we first arrived in Brisbane and we moved into a small flat in Spring Hill, about 5 mins walk from the city center, this morning. It isn't anything special bit it does have airconditioning, comes furnished (with 70's furniture) and is fairly cheap (about 280 pounds a month). I've applied for a number of jobs ranging from fire extinguisher refiller to trainee tree lopper. As of yet no one has contacted and I'll be honest it was a little deflating to suddenly discover I was unemployable.
However, the reason became apparent to me today. Due to the CV I was sending out everyone was assuming I was an Englishmen (uselss Poms!) on a temporary working Visa, while the jobs in question were permanent postions. As a result no one was intersted in employing me. I've fixed this problem though by putting in bold type at the top of my CV that I'm an Australian citizen, hate all the Poms and can't wait until we win the Ashes back next year! On a more constructive note I've also registered with an employment agency.

Rachael is busy registering with the Queensland board of education but is looking for child care work in the meantime. After applying for one job she was informed she was too qualified but they put here forward for a Group Leader's (head honcho of the other carers) job instead - at least one of us is wanted.

The next update could be a while in coming but don't worry (that means you Mum!). I'll try and get some pictures of our new pad up at some point and keep you on track with the joy of job hunting .

Take her easy everyone.

2005-10-31T23:33:00.000+10:00

The guy at the top is Namondjok who broke the incest law by looking his sister in the eyes. As a result she was swallowed bythe rainbow serpent and he was given eternal damnation in a Crocodile spirit where he is forced to watch what every crocodile in the world sees every day.

2005-10-31T23:31:00.000+10:00

A Cathedral Termite mound in Litchfield

Darwin

2005-10-31T11:30:00.000+10:00

We arrived in Darwin after spending another 24 hrs on the Ghan. This included an enforced 4 hour stopover where they make you get off the train (at 8am into 38 oC heat) at Katherine Station. The only problem being that the station isn't airconditioned and is 6km from the town centre, now, the only way you can get to the town centtre is to pay $9 for a ticket on a bus that the Ghan lays on to take you to town - swines. After a bit of breakfast we ended up holing up in the public library where we sat for a couple of hours reading the papers.

We arrived in Darwin, eventually, to stifling heat and extremely humid condtions. Rachael has already had a good whine about the weather up here and not entirely without reason. Due to everyone being constantly hot and sweaty it is a place of short tempers and arguments, obviously myself and Rachael didn't succumb to these tendencies... much!

We decided to hire a car in order to drive out to Litchfield National Park and Kakadu National Park. Litchfield is basically a smaller version of Kakadu that you can swim at, Kakadu itself is infested with fresh and saltwater crocs so you can't really swim there.

After hiring the car a few other people at the hostel expressed an interest so we ended up starting out to Litchfield in a little Hyundai Getz with five people crammed in, myself, Rachael, a French guy and two Swedes (the race not the vegetable). Litchfield was brilliant, we went swimming in a couple of plunge pools (see pictures), saw some massive 20ft termite mounds and drove through some fantastic rainforests. Upon our return to Darwin we went to Mindle Night Market whcih was fantastic. There were foods from every corner of the globe, fire jugglers, native bands playing as well as all the usual tat for sale that you get when a bunch of hippies gather together.

The following day we set out to Kakadu having replaced our Swedes with a German. As many of the roads in the Northern Territorys have no speed limit it didn't take long to get to there (of course I drove responsibly though!). We stayed the night in Kakadu and went to Ubirr and Noalungie to view some Aboriginal art that was 5000 years old in some places. We even managed to tack on the end of a tour group being shown around by an Aboriginal which was very informative. Among the paintings were several thousand year old warnings regarding radiation (Kakadu is home to a massive Uranium reserve) as well as warnings against breaking the 'incest law' which is very strict by all accounts (no looking at or being within 30 metres of a sibling). Our last stop before returning home was to go to Gunlom where there is a lovely waterfall and plunge pool that you can have a swim in at your own risk as it sometimes does have crocodiles in residency. The plunge pool was about 100 metres across and after convincing Rachael to swim over to the waterfall with me she was certain she was about to get eaten at any moment. We returned home, cleaned the car as best we could to disguise we'd been driving it on unsealed roads, before taking a well earned rest - it's hard work having fun sometimes.

A last note on the heat, it's amazing how quickly you adapt, Rachael has stopped moaning and despite it never dropping below 23 oC I actaully felt cold brielfy the other day.

We're leaving Darwin on Wednesday morning and that pretty much signals the end of our travels. It will take two and a half days to get back to Adelaide at which point we'll be picking up the car to head back upto Brisbane. A week after boarding the Ghan for the last time we expect to be back in Brisbane looking for jobs and somewhere to live.

It had to end sometime....

2005-10-31T00:42:00.000+10:00

This is taken at Gunlom in Kakadu National Park, being a mature individual I've just run and jumped of the end of the tree!

2005-10-31T00:41:00.000+10:00

This is taken at Buley Rockpools in Litchfield National Park.

2005-10-31T00:40:00.000+10:00

Wangi (promounced one-guy) Falls at Litchfield. What can I say, we swam out and sat under the waterfall and it was like being in paradise (except we both got burnt shoulders!).

Hot, damn hot

2005-10-30T15:46:00.000+10:00

Hot Hot Heat

2005-10-26T21:40:00.000+10:00

After just 4 days in the Northern Territory I'm ready to get back to England and the rain. The heat and humidity here is just unbearable. Sadler's getting sick of me whining at him so I thought that I'd let everyone back home know that you're better off over there! Having just stepped of the lovely airconditioned Ghan in Alice Springs into 34C heat and about 60% humidity we had to endure a bus ride with 20 others to the hostel and, upon arrival, everyone got out dripping wet through and unfortunately I haven't been dry since! I've found that the trick is to move between airconditioned buildings as fast as you can. We've been seeking refuge in malls, tourist info shops, libraries and bars. So next time you're sitting at home, in a couple of layers with the heating on, reading our blog and thinking enviously of all the fun we're having in Oz, make yourselves feel a bit better by thinking of us suffering in Darwin.....its no fun you know!

2005-10-26T21:21:00.000+10:00

Obligatory sunshet shot.

2005-10-26T21:17:00.000+10:00

This was near the start of the climb and altered bewteen a steady 30 degree incline to 45 degrees where you had to use the chain to haul yourself up.

2005-10-26T21:15:00.001+10:00

The road goes ever on. This white dotted line was what I had to follow across the top of Ayers Rock. In the distance is the Olgas.

2005-10-26T21:14:00.000+10:00

Rach at the Ghan.

A Town Like Alice....

2005-10-26T21:13:00.000+10:00

Except we went to the real place, Alice Springs.

'Interesting Fact : For those of you who have read Neville Shute's book titled as above, the movie adaptation of it was filmed in Silverton!'

We set off on Friday at 5:15pm from Adelaide Station on the legendary Ghan, set to arrive in Alice at 11:55am the following day. We were obviously seated in the cheapy section but it wasn't too bad, they were far more roomy than on a plane and while no replacement for a bed, do allow you to stretch out and get a bit of sleep. We spent the evening in the lounge car having a few tinnies ($5 for a 375ml tin, dissapointingly expensive!) and chatting to some of our fellow travellers. We met a couple of banana benders (Queenslanders), a croweater (South Australian), a sand groper (Western Australian) and some top enders returning home. It was nice to meet a few natives instead of chatting to people from England again.

We arrived in Alice on time and stepped of the air conditioned Ghan, which was cold enough to warrant a jumper at times, into 34 oC heat - this came as a bit of a shock to the system. We were only in Alice for three days so we organised a day tour out to Uluru (Ayers Rock) for the following day which set off at 6am. After fitful sleep on the train the night before this seemed to precipitate an early night. Having learnt our lesson from Melbourne we merely wet our whistles before retiring at around 10pm ready fo a 5am rise for a spot of breakfast.

Ayers Rock is actually about 500km from Alice Springs (my thought is, why don't they move Alice closer, surely it would save money in the long run...!?) so we only made it out there for lunch time. On our coach of 20 people I was the only one who wanted to climb up the rock (wimps!) so at 1:30pm, while everyone else was still sitting around in the air conditioned Cultural Centre, the coach driver dropped me off at the foot of the climb in 34 oC heat. When it gets to 36 oC they actually shut the climb as it's too dangerous, as a result it is shut for around 200 days a year.

I've got to say the climb was pretty tough, you actually have to haul youself up by a chain in parts due to the steepness and there isn't, not surprisngly, any shade. One litre of water, 35 minutes and a few curses later I finally made it to the end of the climb. After reaching what you think is the top, but is actually only about a third of the way, it keeps climbing for a bit before meandering along the top of the rock for about 1km. At one point I thought they were taking the mick and it continued in a continuous loop or something! The climb down was fairly uneventful apart from a couple of slips and being able to geefully inform people climbing up that they till had a long way to go.

Our guide informed me, afterwards of course, that about one person a month dies as a result of climbing Ayers Rock due to heart attacks and others things and about one a year dies from falling off.
It was worth it though and due to being the only person on our coach who climbed it I was awarded minor celebrity or complete idiot status accordingly by everyone else.

We left Alice Spirngs the following day at 4:20pm on the Ghan again, due to arrive in Darwin at 4:30pm the following day.

Stay tuned....

2005-10-24T21:36:00.000+10:00

Me in Silverton outside of their famous Hotel standing next to Max's Interceptor from Mad Max II.

Broken Hill

2005-10-24T21:22:00.000+10:00

We left Adelaide for a couple of days on Tuesday to head upto Broken Hill which is an old mining town just over the border from South Australia into New South Wales.

I don't think I mentioned this before but South Australia is actually on a different time zone to New South Wales and Victoria being half an hour behind. Despite being 50km into NSW's Broken Hill keeps SA time therefore being out of sync with the rest of the state. What with daylight saving coming soon, but only in some states, there is actually six different time zones in Australia. They don't have daylight saving in Queensland because apparently it would fade their curtains or something!?

Anyway we got to Broken Hill where we were staying above a pub, of course, and decided to spend our first evening there doing a bar crawl around the some of the watering holes. We ended going into a place called Marios Hotel which features in the film Priscillia Queen of the Desert. For those of you who can't recall, it has murals of bush scenes covering every available wall space including a Venus style birth scene on the ceiling - a fairly surreal setting in an outback town.
After about six stops our crawl came to a finish as Rachael was starting to stagger and slur her words. I was a little upset by this as, having gotten into the Aussie habit of drinking pots (a half), we'd only had 3 pints each and I was planning on at least another dozen stops around town. Oh well an early night never hurt anyone.
That night it rained constantly for about 12 hours in a place which is basically in the middle of a desert, talk about taking the weather with you. As a result all the Mines were flooded and we couldn't do a tour - boo.

We headed out to Silverton instead which is famous as a location for several films and adverts. Most famously, in my mind anyway, as the setting for Mad Max II. For those of you who have seen the film and remember it.. well, you know the opening shot where Max is at the bottom of a hill collecting a bit of gasoline with a biker at the crest.... we drove down it - wuhoo, who would of though a bit of tarmac could be so thrilling! I actually chose this moment to display the lack of resemblance between Max and myself by driving with the handbrake on for a couple of kilometres - idiot.
Silverton is also home to a Coin Carver, in their we chatted to a guy who is the only person in Australia with permission to cut into the currency. He spends weeks cutting out all the background in old Aussie 1p pieces, leaving just the writing, rim and picture before covering them in silver which he then sells on at $150 dollars each on a necklace.

He also let us into an interesting fact, an Australian 20c piece (worth about 8p) is the exact same size and width as a two pound coin. In fact you can use a 20c piece in vending machines in the U.K. and it will take it as two pounds giving change accordingly.

We returned to Adelaide the following day in preparation for leaving on The Ghan (train) upto Alice Springs on the Friday.

That's all for now folks - take care.

P.S. Anyone who wants some 20c pieces I'll be charging a pound a pop plus freight, discount for bulk orders - everyones a winner!

2005-10-21T03:04:00.000+10:00

Captain Rachael

Adelaide

2005-10-21T03:00:00.000+10:00

After slumming it in Melbourne in hostel accomodation we have returned to luxury in Adelaide where we are being put up by my Aunty Jenny and Uncle Warren in their new house.
We spent the first day trawling round the old neighbourhood where I used to live while I reminisced about the 'Good 'ole days' and pointed out things I remembered to an uninterested Rachael! After that we went to visit my Aunty Faye and Sylvia in Eden Hills who took us out for a lovely lunch before driving us down to the beachfront at Glenelg for a wander around.

We went to a restuarant called Genki on Saturday night where we had our first try of Japanese cuisine. As resident gastronome I feel entirely qualified to say it was all lovely, Rachael was a little unsure of the sushi but apart from that enjoyed it. I also caught up with cousin Kelly which was great. She is currently in the throws of starting her own clothing empire and is selling stuff on ebay at the moment which you can view here:

Vitae Clothes

We went off Sunday morning to Clayton where Aunty Jenny and Uncle Warren keep their yacht 'Passing Cloud' and spent a lovely day drifting down with the wind to Goolwa. We moored up there, had a wander around a lovely little Sunday market, a cuppa in a local cafe before making our way back to Clayton. Me and Rachael both helped out with our inneffectual seamanship which consisted mainly of pulling things when we were told to and steering the boat a bit wonky! We then spent the night in Clayton in Aunty Jenny and Uncle Warren's lovely little unit where we promptly fell asleep after a days dillydallying on the waves.

Despite doing little more on Monday apart from travelling back to Adelaide and popping into town briefly we were both pooped and took another early night in preparation for our trip to Broken Hill the following day - life's hard sometimes!

Never drinking again, again...!

2005-10-19T20:31:00.000+10:00

For our last night in Melbourne we had decided to hit the hay early ready to set off at 'crack of sparrow' to the Great Ocean road the following morning. There was a free wine and cheese (bad cheese, even worse wine) thingy going on in the Hostel at 7:30pm so we thought, a couple of drinks and chat to some people before retiring for the evening at around 10pm....... 9 hours later, at 4:30am, we piled into our Dorm room a little the worse for wear having spent the evening drinking about a dozen 'last' drinks. We both passed out for a couple hours of sleep before setting out later that morning.

Needless to say we were both a little the worse for wear and I drove out through the Melbourne traffic on auto pilot.

However, the Great Ocean Road was amazing and despite our respective hangovers we took several hours to drive it's 300km length as we kept stopping off to enjoy the sites. In fact as it took us so long, coupled with setting off a little late, we ended up sleeping in the car just outside Port Fairy. It wasn't the best nights sleep I've ever had but wasn't too bad either. Rachael had some type of nightmare in the middle of the night about people breaking into the car and awoke mumbling and flailing but apart from that it worked ok - not sure we'll be repeating it though!

2005-10-18T07:04:00.000+10:00

This is what your number plate looks like after driving the Great Ocean Road - lovely stuff. If you click on this to enlarge it youcan probably make out the individual species of dead bug!

2005-10-18T07:00:00.000+10:00

A lovely shot of some stacks along the Great Ocean Road as the sun sets.

2005-10-18T01:21:00.000+10:00

Need I say anymore - she made me do it! Apparently that's Harold's house in thebackground.

Everybody needs good neighbours

2005-10-18T00:18:00.000+10:00

Unfortunately for Sadler, I finally got round doing the thing I went to Melbourne for....visiting Ramsey Street. Along with a busload of other Brits we went on the Neighbours tour round Erinsborough to see all the sights which have featured over the years. We got to pose for photos outside Harold and Susan's houses with the Ramsey Street sign, outside the school and we got to hear all the upcoming storylines. So stop reading here if you don't want to know which characters come to an end in a plane crash..............David, Liliana and Serena Bishop.

We're off to Broken Hill tomorrow for a few days so we finally get to see some Aussie desert and really experience the Outback but I'll post some photos of Ramsey Street soon.