Melbourne

After another half day exploring The Blue Mountains, I caught an afternoon train back to Sydney and instantly booked an overnight bus to Melbourne. On Friday, therefore, I explored part of Melbourne city centre, including the Old Gaul; the old prison which sometimes was also used for executions. It was a very good museum - although strangely I never actual managed to find the ticket booth, thus also making it a very cheap museum!

On Saturday I did some more exploring. This included a brief walk around the Victorian market. In my travels around South-east Asia I saw some weird food on sale; Sheep brains, crab thumbs, a pain apple pancake - but I never expected to find the strangest food in Melbourne! Lamb heads (eyes included) were available for all who fancied a bargain!

On Saturday evening I went to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to see an Australian Rules Football Match; Collingwood versus Horthorns. On entry I was asked if I was a Pies fan. After initially being puzzled as to what exactly was being asked of me, I expressed how I was just a tourist going to a football match. I was subsequently handed a 'Pies banner. My team for the day had been chosen, although I wasn't initially sure exactly which team it was! It wasn't long, however, until I sussed out that Collingwood's nickname was The Magpies, hence the 'Pies.

Initially the match itself was pretty confusing, but before long it mostly made sense. Some of it was really unique, such as how if the ball goes out of play, one of the umpires would take the ball to the edge of the pitch, turn his back to the field, and then lob the ball back into play over his head! Another baffling part of the game were the various players running about in bright yellow shirts. Eventually I realised that, with a pitch so huge, the only way that the manager could give his players instructions was by getting non-players to sprint onto the pitch, give instructions, then sprint back again!

The sport itself was fast paced and fun, and by half-time the match was very close. However, in the third quarter the Horthorns ran riot, and by the final quarter it was clear that I'd have had a slightly better experience if I'd have been given a Hawks banner rather than a 'Pies banner. Nevertheless it was a good experience.

Sunday was spent exploring yet more of the city. On Sunday night, my dorm room were suddenly awoken by an alarm outside. After about ten seconds, however, the alarm suddenly moved inside the building. As my senses gradually came back to me, it became apparent that it was actually the fire alarm, and so my room-mates and me did the only sensible thing that you can do when an fire alarm goes off in the middle of a cold night - we laid in bed hoping that it would go away.

After about a minute it became apparent that lying in bed was going to do us no good, so as a potential blaze threatened to engulf us, we all clambered out of bed and spent a good amount of time choosing what cloths and accessories to bring out with us. I even found time to grab an Ipod. I suppose that you never expect it to be a real fire, although as we crowded outside in the freezing cold, the quick arrival of the fire brigade, and the odd claim of the smell of smoke, made us realise that the alarm was genuine. We ended up being outside for about an hour, but I didn't mind - I was thoroughly satisfied with the multiple layers of clothing I had gathered in the urgent evacuation.

On Monday I gave myself a day off whilst trying to decide how to fill my time until Saturday's flight to New Zealand. I eventually settled on a tour of The Great Ocean Road for Tuesday. The tour itself was unfortunately very dull; the problem with travelling for so long is that mediocre scenery does little to impress after recent memories of soaring mountain views or dense remote jungle. However, the tour guide, Bernie, was very interesting. I soon nick-named him 'Bad Santa', not merely for his appearance, but also because he shouted at the group to shut up when he was trying to speak, and then moaned about the lack of manners. Everyone on the tour was stunned into silence, followed by a few sniggers, but I now think that he wasn't being too serious. He later would question my sanity when I brought a bottle of water out to one of the seaside views. I still fail to work out exactly what point he was trying to make.

While Tuesday's tour itself was dull, it actually turned out to be quite a fun day. This was mainly because of the fun that I had with some of the other travellers. One of them, Mel, I had actually met before for a couple of hours in The Blue Mountains, and we joined together again today to kill a little more time in Melbourne. This has been totally worthwhile, because even though it's not my birthday until tomorrow, I have actually now received a birthday cake! Unfortunately its an inedible pile of chocolate tinged goop, but nevertheless I appreciate the sentiment. Tomorrow's actual birthday celebrations are likely to be a thoroughly less enjoyable experience. I expect to kill my final day in Melbourne with little activity, and then get the night bus to Sydney, ready for my flight to the ninth country of my travels; New Zealand.

Sydney and The Blue Mountains

Midday on Saturday I arrived in Sydney. The day was spent walking to and around the Darling Harbour area of the city, whilst on Sunday I visited the city centre, The Opera House and The Sydney Bridge. My time in Sydney was fairly quiet; the hostels are fairly empty as people choose to go to the warm north rather than the cold south. However, on Monday I found myself buying some warm cloths in preparation for my trip to The Blue Mountains.

I arrived in Katoomba in The Blue Mountains late on Monday. Back in Sydney I exchanged my South-east Asia guidebook for an Australian one; a task I clearly should have done a long time ago.
It recommended the Number 14 Lovel Street hostel in Katoomba, and I'm glad it did. Number 14 is a converted home that is now a warm comforting hostel, and it's a great place to relax after a walk through the mountains. The mountains themselves are spectacular, with stunning views and great waterfalls more than making up for the chilly weather. The 'steepest railway in the world' was good, if a little scary! Katoomba is also in the news at the moment; just a few hours ago a British backpacker who was missing in the mountains was found alive!

Tomorrow I will do a little more trekking before returning to Sydney and moving on - possibly as far as Melbourne. However, I have just ten days until I need to return to Sydney to catch my flight to New Zealand.

Cairns To Byron Bay

After spending another day in Cairns trying to make a plan, I decided to join Roel, Koen and Katy in the drive down to Mission beach. The aim of this was to take part in a day of White Water Rafting. This was an activity I had done before in Thailand, but I was hoping for a more exciting ride.

On the bus to the Tully River, a rafter called Andy was giving the coach the lowdown on the ins and outs of rafting. He was a lively Australian, but most of the passengers failed to laugh at the majority of his early morning jokes. An hour later, me and my friends were all geared up and waiting to be assigned a raft leader for the day. When Andy was assigned to a different group, Roel in particular seemed relieved. "I'm glad we haven't got Andy" he said. We asked why. "Because I hate him" came the strong response (possibly blemished by the fact that English was not his first language). Immediately after Roel's remark, I looked over at Andy, and overheard a quick conversation he was having with another rafting guide. Andy subsequently strolled towards my group, enthusiastically expressing "Hi Guys, I'm gonna be rafting with you!". We struggled to contain our laughter.

By the end of the rafting Roel had changed his tone; Andy had been an excellent guide. The rafting was fun; far superior to my Thai rafting experience. There were some quite wild sections, and some big dips. There was a moment where the guides intentionally flip the boat in a deep section of water, and also an opportunity to clamber out of the boat and jump off a rock about four metres high. The after rafting DVD also revealed to us that our group were in the most spectacular incident. One violent bump somersaulted Koen and a French guy on our raft out of the front in perfect synchronisation. This was followed by a mad scramble to try and drag them back into the boat.

White water rafting signalled the end of my time with that current group of friends. Sofie had left us in Cairns, and it was now my turn to leave the group. I had spent around two weeks with them, and had travelled with them all the way from Alice Springs. However, it was time to head south, and Frazer Island was my next port of call.

After a twenty hour ride, I arrived at Koala Backpackers Hostel in Hervey Bay early in the morning. The next day was spent choosing a Frazer Island tour and subsequently meeting my tour buddies; Jason, Tiffany, Amy and Liz.

The following day the trip began, and it was really great. Frazer Island is a really beautiful island, our group got on well, and it was fun driving our vehicle along the beach and along the rough inner roads. The highlight of the tour, however, was camping with some Aboriginals on the island.

The Aboriginals were of mixed race, but they clearly were very proud of their indigenous heritage. They performed traditional dances for us and taught us how to play the didgeridoo. One of the dances they performed was designed to warn off bad spirits (or something like that, I didn't pay close enough attention). However, shortly before the dance we were warned not to get freaked out with any pictures we took of the dance. They would apparently be splattered in various white orbs. These orbs were apparently the spirits. I remained sceptical, but also frustrated by the fact that my camera had ran out of battery. However, when I looked at Liz's pictures, I was stunned. Sure enough, some of the pictures were covered in various white circles. I don't know what the explanation is for this, but it was creepy. In fact a little later in the night I suddenly found myself alone around the campfire as everybody dispersed in their own directions for various reasons. The memory of the orbs began to revolve in my mind, and I was happy to see Jason return to the campfire a minute later!

The following morning our group joined the mother of the family at breakfast. In the traditional way, she had applied face paint to the female members of our group - although she was not allowed to do it to the men. However, she chose this moment to inform Jason about what she saw when she did the dance the night earlier. She claimed she saw a 'shape-shifter' in him; a green-eyed bald-headed version of himself coming out of him. Jason seemed unsurprised; he apparently has had various people inform him of a strange presence within him! Due to the special circumstances, she felt impulsed to paint his face. Minuted later she did my face as well, presumably out of guilt as I was the only one unblemished! I remain sceptical about the spirits, orbs and shape-shifters, but it certainly has intrigued me!

After returning to Hervey Bay, I booked a bus down to Brisbane for the following morning. The bus was at 5:30 AM, so I bought myself an alarm clock to ensure I made the trip.

The following morning I awoke during the night. It was dark, but I felt like I had slept for quite a while. I went into the hallway with my alarm clock to check the time in the light. It was 5:30; my alarm had failed to go off. I had fortunately done my packing the night before, so I hastily picked up my belongings and rushed downstairs. Luckily I was still in time - and I even got a chance to check my alarm-clock and notice the small switch on the back in the 'off' position. Orbs and spirits still remain dubious to me, but I'm a firm believer in the human body clock!

My time in Brisbane was short lived. There was little to do there, so after a stroll around and a visit to the museum, I moved on the following day to Byron Bay, my current location.

Byron Bay is a pleasant little place. I have bought myself a harmonica here, and have been pleased with how easy it is to play! After recommendations from Jason and a girl in Brisbane, I also booked a day trip for Thursday to Nimbin with Jim's Alternative Tours. This was a great, if slightly surreal, little trip.

In the morning I boarded Jim's colourful little adventure bus. Before long the fun 60's tunes were playing and we were all introduced to Doug, our guide. Doug is a hippy from the 60's, and was very entertaining as he informed us of his time growing up as a hippy and the various tree-hugging plights which have been fought over the years. He took us to Nimbin, a tiny yet intriguing little hippy village littered with sprightly dressed witches, fortune tellers and hippies of all types. We also saw a great waterfall and good scenery on the trip. Doug always ensured that 'The Tour With The Tunes' was fun and original.

The highlight of the trip, however, was the visit to Paul the Hippy's house. Paul, a very intelligent hippy scientist, has spent thirty years growing hundreds of different trees on his land. Talking to him was fascinating, although I kind of got the feeling that most people on our group had absolutely no idea what we were doing there. Nevertheless it was fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy an Australian activity that didn't include a single beach or splash of water!

I spent today doing the nice walk to the Byron Bay lighthouse and the most easterly point in Australia - and in the evening I thoroughly enjoyed a trip to the cinema to see the Bruno film. Tonight I travel to Sydney.