Territory and Outback - Kings Canyon

So where did I leave you....oh yes we were leaving Alice Springs to head to Kings Canyon...I have to say that this was not one of the parts of the trip I was looking forward to purely because of the fact the accommodation was going to be super basic as you will see shortly...but I survived and as Justine (tour guide) said – and which kind of became the Mantra for the trip – It was all part of the experience!

So we got up nice and early and were on the bus for about 7.30am I think (could be wrong but can’t remember) and off we headed down the Stuart Highway to Kings Canyon – it was very exciting that after about an hour and a half we were able to turn right....it is pretty much one road top to bottom in the NT’s so when you get to turn off to go somewhere it can be a kind of hysterical excitement – well it was for Nat (driver - with new hair and everything!) who did a cracking job throughout the whole trip!

We stopped for a quick break at the Mt Ebeneezer Roadhouse which was quite literally the only place to stop in the nearby area.....definitely deserved a jumping shot!

We all then jumped back on the bus and headed off to Kings Creek Cattle Station where we all leaped off the bus (that sounds a bit energetic! We didn’t really leap!) in need of food and water (and a bathroom), grabbed some lunch which some enjoyed and some didn’t and then headed over to the joy that was going to be our campsite that evening...thats right people I said camping!! But this is not camping UK style with a lovely tent and all, this was camping Aussie style with a swag. A swag is a delightful piece of canvas that goes over your sleeping bag and is meant to keep the bugs/mice/snakes/critters off you....this does not work!!! I will get back to that story later! First we have the rest of the day to get through.

So once we had set up our swags we jumped back on the bus and headed over to Kings Canyon where we went for a little hike.....yep thats right I said hike....for those of you that know me back in the UK this is not my normal idea of a good time but I did it and once I had caught my breath really enjoyed myself! Big surprise to me! So for the next 3hrs or less we hiked up and down Kings Canyon, through the garden of Eden and saw some amazing sights. The start was a bit scary....lots of very steep rocky steps to climb which definitely gave me a reason to try and improve my fitness....started at the front and ended up near the back. I soon learnt though that the nearer you are to the guide the more time you get to rest between hikey bits! Was a great experience and I surprised myself how much I enjoyed it. Here are some shots from the canyon...

We got back from the hike, jumped back on the bus and made our way back to the campsite where a much needed shower and feed was readily available (oh and a nice bottle of vino!).Caroline and I took our wine with us to dinner and enjoyed a nice glass of vino with our pasta dinner and then we all headed back to the campsite for a night of campfire music and chitter chatter....there are lots of photos of this but I was too busy staring into my wine bottle to take any....I was somewhat aware of the fact I had to sleep in the swag and decided that drinking enough wine to knock me out (sorry Mum!) was the way forward. We had a good old catch up and it was our first real night all together as a group.

At about midnight I left the fire to utilise the facilities and as I was returning the desire to sleep hit me so I went straight and jumped into the swag – pretty much passed out. The one thing I hadn’t accounted for is my incredibly rubbish alcohol bladder waking me up 3hrs later!! When I woke up I heard all this scurrying over my swag, down the side of it and was trying my best not to freak out – there had been a lizard incident earlier in the night with one of the other girls locating one in her sleeping bag! It turned out to be bush mice who were very keen on the packet of crisps that somehow appeared next to my swag! :o(

Anyway, I decided it was too cold so I chucked the ipod on and dozed on/off for about another 1.5 hours before the desire to pee was just too great to stand any more. I decided it was time to go so pretty much jumped out of my swag as quickly as I could and ran to the ladies. I noticed, in my run, that there were people still sat round the fire so on my way back I grabbed my sleeping bag and wrapped it round me and sat by the fire chatting with them until everyone slowly woke up from what most people would have to say was a disturbed nights sleep!

But once everyone was up there was some excitement as people were doing camel rides and quad bikes in the morning and then after they had done that it was off to Yulara to see one of the best known landmarks of the great country called Oz.....but that is the next blog!

Territory and Outback - Alice Spings

So I have just got back from the Northern Territories (well on Thursday!) from an 11 day tour with Contiki which was AMAZING! I met so many lovely people, saw some amazing sights, hiked (yes hiked!) and walked some amazing paths and just had a pretty damn amazing time! This is the story of Contiki - Territory and Outback tour May 2011.

I left Brisbane at silly o'clock on the Saturday morning, the lovely DG & SP gave me a lift to the airport - much easing the pain of the early start following a few bottles of bubbles watching the royal wedding aussie style!

All went nice and smoothly (and I am pretty much loving the comedy cabin crew / pilot action from Quantas - made the flight really quite funny!) and I arrived in the delights of Alice Springs where I got the shuttle bus to the hotel in preparation for the tour starting the following morning. As I was exiting the shuttle bus I met the lovely Andie (Gold Coast) who ended up being my roomie on the tour for the first five days or so. We got to the room, dumped the bags on the beds, left a note for anyone else joining the room and headed to the bar for lunch and refreshments...about half an hour later these 2 girls came bounding up and introduced themselves as Caroline (Toronto) and Louise (Cornwall).

We sat around in the bar chatting and Caroline and Lou were telling us about the East Coast tour that they had just finished and how there were about 11 of them who had done that tour and were joining the one that we all were doing starting in the morning. Slowly whilst we were sat there the rest of their group came and joined us and we all sat around chilling out and having a couple of drinks before some headed into town and the rest of us kicked back either by the pool or in the room.

The next morning the tour started at 8am and we met up with the rest of the tour group (I think there were about 26 of us - from Australia, NZ, USA, UK, Germany) and we headed out to a number of different places around Alice Springs starting with an aboriginal community where we were given a talk about some of their traditions and things they do like eat Kangaroo tail (which tasted a lot like lamb!), throw boomerangs, painting and an explanation of some of the rules they live, for example the marriage arrangements they have to stop inbreeding....it was really fascinating and definitely something I want to learn more about. One of the amazing things is that as a tourist you are only really given the child's version of any story and they don't always make sense. Here are some shots from the talk:

I think the most fascinating thing I found out about them is what they refer to as 'Sorry Business'. It is basically what happens when someone dies and it is their way of seeing the soul back into the ground, or at least that was my take on it. The bit that amazed me though was that once Sorry Business has been conducted that person is never spoken of again, even some photos you see will have black marks as that person no longer exists. I really want to learn more about the culture, might have to do a whole lot of reading on this one!!

We then went on to Simpsons Gap, the Telegraph station and Anzac Hill.

Then on the way home we went into the Royal Flying Doctors Service and to a reptile centre where I was all brave and let a snake attempt to crawl across my shoulders - not doing that again!!

We then headed back to the hotel where we were advised if you are going out to take a taxi - Alice is not the safest of places after dark! So a few of us made the decision to stay in the hotel and chill out. Especially as we were up early the next day to head on to Kings Canyon...

News

So it is exciting times....I had written a blog about how not a lot had been happening which was why I hadn't posted anything but I couldn't publish it....clearly the universe knew better than me that something was going to happen!!! I will give you the back dated story and then get to the exciting news (that you have probably already seen on FB but will tell you more about it!).

So since I got back from Moreton Bay I have registered with a couple of recruitment agencies to start the temporary work search. I quite quickly got an 8 day contract with an Insurance company covering someone in their admin dept's holiday. Basic word admin - nice and simple, no stress - not a huge amount to do but if they are going to pay me to read my book then that was there call! Met a really lovely girl (R) who was working there on a long term temp contract (that makes no sense I realise - they keep extending the contract) and we went out for post-work drinks on the Friday and I stumbled home at 11.30pm rather inebriated (if that is how you spell it) - in my defence the cosmopolitans were on a deal for happy hour - 2 for $11 when they are normally $18 dollars for 1! Yeah alcohol is stupid expensive over here!

Anyway, the following week I finished off my 8 days and had the Thurs & Fri off - just as well really as I had picked up a bug from the air con and felt rubbish so was able to relax and chill out etc before we headed up to Murgen, which is where SP's parents live, for the weekend. It’s about 4 hours away from Brisbane and we had a nice chilled weekend. I have never seen the night sky look so amazing as out there - so clear and beautiful - twas lovely!

We got back Sunday afternoon and on the Monday I had an interview with another agency to register with them. With no work planned I was a little anxious to get something and then one of the agencies called and got me some data inputting work. So I have been doing that all week.

Then on Friday I found out I got an Event Co-ordinator position that I had gone for, 2 mth contract, fab pay, working on events to reward the QLD disaster heroes all over QLD. It’s going to be a fab job. I didn't expect to get it because I am away for the first couple of weeks of May and also a couple of the event dates (there are 9 I think) are on the same night as my course that starts in the beginning of June so there were a lot of no's to it BUT they want me anyway - I am so thrilled!!!

I had Friday night cocktails with DG, R and one of her friends last night in celebration - well it would be rude not to, wouldn't it?

Moreton Island

So having been sat round not doing much for the last couple of weeks and with the prospect of starting work on Monday I thought I should get in some sight seeing so I booked myself onto a day trip to Moreton Island just off the coast near Brisbane.

Yesterday I got up super early (half past 5) and made my way into the city to meet up with the tour people at 6.45am! Why everything has to start so early I don't know...was a kicker on the tour in October and I am guessing it is going to be the same when I go to Alice Springs in May.

Anyway, I digress....Moreton Island is reportedly the second biggest sand island in the world, after Fraser Island which is furher up the coast. To get to the island we were taken to a service station on the way out of Brisbane by one guide who was heading off to Fraser Island with another group and we were collected by another guide who took us to the Port of Brisbane to catch the Micat over to the Island. There were four of us who were heading over, me and three girls from Brazil - all very nice but only one of them could speak English so communicating was definitely interesting! The boat took about 1hr and 30mins to get across to Moreton Island which looks like this from a distance....



There are no offical roads on the island, they are all surprisingly enough made of sand so in order to get round it you need to have a 4WD vehicle and luckily enough for us Graham our guide for the day was waiting on the beach with one to take us round with the group who had been on a 2 day tour and had camped there the night before. The boat dropped us off directly onto the beach and we were able to have a look at the ship wrecks there that are just of the coast.



They were pretty cool and if you were there for a longer stay you got the option of going snorking round them.

We all piled into the 4WD vehicle which was pretty basic but could fit the 11 of us in as the back had bench seats and we went across to the desert on the island and went sand toboganning....I don't have any photos of this as it was very sandy and I didn't want to trash my camera! The basic idea though is that you climb to the top of one of the dunes, lie face first on a piece of wood that has been waxed on one side, you pull up the front of it, put your elbows out and go down the dune....great fun but I opened my mouth on the 2nd run and got a mouthful - not helpful when the water was in the vehicle! Would definitely do it again and think I might take Mr & Mrs M if they come over in November!

After the important drink of water and the recovery from walking across the dunes (painful on both the calves and the lower back!) we headed down to the eastern beach which we drove all the way along and then went across the island to the Western Beach where we chilled out and rinsed off the sand whilst Graham organised our picnic lunch. There was a creek of some form running through the middle of the beach which had brown water in - yes I know it sounds disgusting but it was from the tea trees apparently so we rinsed off in there - weird as it was really warm on the top but cold on the bottom...very refreshing though! We then had our lunch before heading back across the island to Cape Moreton lighthouse which is apparently Queenslands oldest lighthouse...you can also look out over the ocean where we saw dolphins and turtles playing in the waves!





We then headed back to the campsite where the group had stayed the night before to get their kit and have a bit of a cool off in the Blue lagoon - which again was brown because of the trees but was a lovely freshwater lake that was nice and cool and we needed it the cooling down - so hot! I have a nice red mark on my back to prove it!

We then headed back across the island to get the boat back to the main land before us all heading in our separate directions...

It was a fab day but I was glad to get home to get rid of the sand and where we had a lovely meal of spaghetti bolognase made by matty and then a little St Paddy's day drink before I had an early night....nice jugs SP!



Its going to be a quiet couple of days before I start work on Monday!

Joining the Australian rat race!

I start my first temporary work assignment on Monday. I have no idea what I am going to be doing but I am sure it wil be fine. Central Brisbane for 8 working days, better pay than the UK which is always an added bonus. I am quite looking forward to it to be honest, will be nice to be out and about and meeting people.

I had an interview with a agency today who I was in touch with at the end of last year about a job that fell through in the end but he wants to approach them about my CV anyway to see if there is a possibility of contract work in the near future. I am kind of in 2 minds about it all, firstly I have just registered with agency 1 and they have a few bits and pieces coming up which could fill my time and earn me some A$ (I really only want work at the moment to cover living expenses so I can use my savings for the more fun bits!). Secondly, I have only been here a couple of weeks and I am not sure if I want to get a permanent job yet....I am still getting to know stuff about the area and whether I like it or not. I am happy to do some short term contract work but I'm just not sure yet on the permanent side of things and I don't think I will be for a while.

I think if I stick to my plan of temping for the next few months and doing my event course to get an idea of things then I can either start looking for a permanent job or I can do more temping/travelling before heading home at some point next year.....

All these decisions to make.....but not really needing to make any at the same time....god I love being a pisces and not being able to make decisions easily for myself! Give me someone elses problems and I can suggest things to do but when it comes to my stuff I really struggle to decide what I want! Ah well I am not in any rush, am loving this take things as they come lifestyle!

To do nothing or to do something...that is todays question!

So I have been here for a little over a week and have done pretty much nothing...it has been absolutely fantastic although I do feel a bit guilty about my lack of activity!

Its a welcome change to how my life was in the UK and when I think about it even though I officially finished work at the end of January I was then running around boxing up my house, saying goodbye to my peeps and then travelling over here! Maybe taking a couple of weeks to relax and just enjoy the rest isn't so bad!

I wake up when I want to, eat when I want to, pop over to the shopping centre which is near the house for a little meander (and to enjoy the air con!) and I have been into the city for a bit as well. I know at some point that I need to start looking at what I am going to do on a day-to-day basis with regards to work but so far I have just been enjoying planning the year and working out what I am going to do and when.

The first planned bit of travelling is in May when I will be back on the Contiki bus for 11 days travelling from Alice Springs to Darwin (via Ayers Rock/Uluru) and getting a feel for the Northern Territory. I just hope it can match up to how much fun I had on the tour in October! I am sure I will meet some lovely people and who knows I met people on the last tour that I hope will be friends for a good old while...its all about enhancing the old social community after all....you never know when you can go knocking on their door!

I am doing an event management course for 10(ish) weeks in Brisbane starting in June and then I have found a bus ticket that will take me from Brisbane to Adelaide over a 30 day period where I can stop over in places when I want to and move on when I want to (timetable obliging of course!). I think I will probably do this in September and then fingers crossed Mr & Mrs M are coming out November time.

And somewhere in all of that I am hoping to get some work in to help pay for life!

hmmm maybe I shouldn't feel too anxious about not doing anything...it is only the first couple of weeks after all!

New beginnings..

So I have finally made it to Australia, I can't quite believe that I am here yet and that I am not going home at any point soon...is a bit weird but is also a great feeling of freedom!

The journey was a long old trek...first flight on the beast that is the A380 was awesome although 14 hours and no sleep was a bit of a kicker...I managed to watch 6 films although I don't think that I could tell you which films I watched now! It wasn't too bad though as I had a spare seat next to me so could spread out a bit although sleep evaded me for the whole flight so by the time I arrived in Singapore I was wiped out...managed to stumble across to a shop and buy a bottle of water and a bagel before getting to the gate to wait for the next flight...Flight 2 not so bad as I had a whole row of seats so could stretch out and sleep....I normally can't sleep on flights but that didn't appear to be a problem this time round!

I finally arrived in Brisbane to zip through customs and meet up with the DG and SP who brought me back to my new home for the forseeable future....a nice couple of glasses of vino and then bedfordshire!

Since then I have been trying to limit the jet lag and get the first bits and pieces done...

Mobile phone....check
Bank account....check

now I just get to plan what I am going to do over the next few months before my event course starts in June.

Oh and BTW it is blooming hot!

Love it!