Australia Recap

A sad but bittersweet post, the Australia sector of this journey has come to an end.  4 months ago I was on a plane headed down under all by myself, no set travel plan, and nothing more than 4 nights booked in a hostel.  That plane trip from the states was very exciting yet scary at the same time.  Leaving all my family and friends behind and heading to a place that truly was foreign to me, all on my own.  Today I have four great months of memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. Crikey what a trip!  It isn't till I step back a bit and think about what I've accomplished till I really feel how awesome and unbelievable this trip was. Yes, I had a bit of aid in the groundwork with the trip as far as getting my visa and such, but it was me in the end that really made everything happen.  I secured my first job in another country, something not many Americans, especially my age, can say that they've done. I went solo, maybe the best call of this entire journey.  Yes, in some places having a friend from back home to share some great memories would have been cool, but honestly, travelling the world is all about meeting new people and learning about yourself.  Thanks to the heaps of international travelers and a very well laid out backpacking network in Australia, meeting new people was not difficult if you just made a simple effort.  Travelling solo forces you to be outgoing. This trip would not have been the same without the heaps of great people I've met along the way. Meeting new people and hearing their stories is just as mesmorizing as some of the most beautiful Australian destination. I have made contacts from all over the world and will eventually see them all again, whether showing them around the great state of California or in their respective countries. My friends from England, Sweden, Germany, Italy, and Holland have all invited me to their countries and offered accomodation.  I will undoubtedly take them up on their offers when I do eventually make it back over to Europe.

Maybe the best part of this trip is that I absolutely have no regrets.  I would not do anything different on the trip.  My time in Sydney, my travel itinerary, etc. For the time I had in Australia and the funds available, I did everything I wanted to do and that is the important part.

Working in Australia was quite the experience.  Although it was in the travel and transportation industry and (hopefully) quite the deviation from a future career path, my job at Gate Gourmet was a memorable one.  It really shows that I can excel at anything I put effort into.  Well even if I didn't "excel" like the fast moving Koreans, I still never got fired and I think thats a plus in anyones work career.  Learning the ins and out of airline catering was fascinating and is something I will always remember on any flight I board.  And yes, I will still eat the airline food, regardless of packing thousands of trays, tray after tray and seeing how it all comes together.

Things Learned

Well travelling around with international people you see and learn things about the world. I learned some aussie words, but definitely picked up on some common/slang German, Swedish and English(UK) words.

Also, and I got a feel for this in Europe almost 3 years ago, Americans don't have the greatest reputation among outsiders.  I think this may all be due to bad media and terrible stereotypes that sometimes can lead to be true. Europeans are fascinated about Obama, that had to be the most common question I recieved, "what do you think of Obama." Did get a bit annoyed after awhile with that question.  But yes, I think American movies, TV shows and just our modern culture can sometimes lead to false accusation of American lifestyle.  Another common topic was gangs. Whenever LA was brought up, the topics of gangs and Compton always came along. I always told people you can't talk anything if you have never actually visited a place.

As far as things learned about myself, well heaps.  This has been a great individual experience.  I've never been one for horoscopes or star signs but it is right on.  I've seen on this trip, that my Aquarius personality is right on.  Aquarians are usually pretty independant and adventurous.  I wouldn't really have classified myself as adventurous before this trip, but now I would. Maybe it is due to the fact that this is the first time I truly have been on my own, and I think that is where my adventurous self comes out.  I constantly find myself always trying to explore new places and never wanting to miss out on an opportunity and will make the extra effort to make it happen.  This trip has improved my lifestyle.  I can't even remember the last time I slept past 10 oclock in the morning. (actually yes I can, when I was working). Let me rephrase that a bit. WHEN I AM TRAVELLING, I wake up early so I can make the most of my time, no matter how tired I am or how big of a night I had the night before.  I can't afford to piss days away when there is so much do to. I think travelling has made me healthier.  Let me first make clear that I am in no means in shape.  BUT, I would say I am far more active than usual while travelling. I have walked hundreds of miles of the past 4 months and I feel pretty good.  I am thankful that I never got sick at all during this part of the trip, especially in my one month travelling the coast and Melbourne. I think being sick while backpacking would be the worst possible thing that can happen.  So I must have treated my body pretty well never to feel under the weather, with the exception of a hangover here or there.  My eating habits over the past 4 months have been suprisingly pretty good. Thinking back on it, I probably ate better on this trip than I did any year in college (except for freshman year in the dorms).  I found myself eating almost 1-2 pieces of fruit everyday and eating breakfast, lunch, dinner almost every day of the weak. Yea, being on a pretty strict budget I couldn't afford 5 star meals every night with every ingredient possible, but I made the most of it. I also discovered I am taking less of the things I don't like out of my food and eating them.  Mostly vegetables.  Things I never used to eat I have started eating, and I dont really know why.  They include mushrooms, capsicums, cucumbers, and tomatoes.  Out of these 4, tomatoes have made way into my taste buds the most.  At times I still don't like eating them but sometimes they can be quite tasty and can really improve a certain meal, sandwhich, or salad.

Highlights of the trip

Here will be a quick rundown of some of my favorite things/nights/travel spots on the Trip

- Spending time relaxing at my favorite Sydney destinations, Manly Beach, Coogee Beach, Darling Harbour, Sydney Harbour, The Botanical Gardens

- Losing my debit card in the first weeks of being in Sydney and finding it without any harm done
- Newtown Festival the second week in Sydney
- Working at Gate Gourmet
- Pearl Jam and Ben Harper Concert at Sydney Football Stadium
- Living at Home Backpackers in Sydney and meeting new people outside on the deck every night, the best night was Wednesday, Free Wine and Cheese Night
- That 1 night I got kicked out of Scruffy Murphy's bar for my "swaying" dance moves
- Times out at the Sydney bars with my favorite friends
- New Years Eve overlooking Sydney's Harbour and a multimillion dollar firework show

- Taking the long Greyhound bus rides and listening to some epic playlists on my Ipod, favorites were The Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
- Byron Bay
- Meeting up with my German girlfriends in Brisbane and cooking and eating that great dinner at the hostel
- Noosa National Park Bush Walk
- Day trip to Croc Hunter's Australia Zoo
- Fraser Island 4 wheel trip beach camping trip.

- When I urinated on a guys leg after he got stung by a blue bottle jellyfish
- Australian Day and partying and dancing in the rain on Magnetic Island
- The Magnetic Island bush walk in the pouring rain
- The Great Barrier Reef snorkel trip
- The hot wings and Blue Sky brewery in Cairns
- Kuranda adventure bushwalk and Barron Falls

- Great Ocean Road trip out of Melbourne
- Returning to Sydney, seeing all my friends for one last time

2 downsides of the trip

Well these are the two, and I think if these are the worst of it, it shows I didn't have to bad of a time.

-Night and morning in Surfers paradise after that one unknown strawberry shot before the pub crawl that put me down for the count and made my life and bus ride a living hell.

- This next one has been bottled up by me for the past 2 months.  I hate to think about it, but it happened.  I was involved in a large backpacker scam with 6 other of my roomates while I was staying at my apartment in Surry Hills, Sydney. None of us received our $300 dollar security bond back.  We all got played by our shady and shitty landlord.  This is something that I saw coming, I never signed a contract or anything. Like most of the time, I am partially to blame.  But anyhow what happened to me and my roomates is a very common thing in Sydney. These shady apartment renters taking advantage of backpackers.  I was given constant excuses that the owner was out of the country and couldn't get my money back till he came back.  My other roomates were told to give them their bank details and it would be transfered to them. Well those promises were never followed thru. We all got shafted.  Moving On, this was obviously right before I was taking off for my east coast trip, always having money on my mind.  $300 backpacking goes a long way but I did my best to not think about it.  I couldnt let something ruin my time.  Yes it sucks now, it sucked then, and it was worth about 1 and a half weeks accomodation, but I tell myself this.  Come a couple months I will hopefully have a job, that $300 dollars will be about 1 - 3 days work...no need to ruin a trip over 3 days work, just not worth it. Yes, extremely unfortunate it happened and yes I tried to put up a bit of a fight but got nowhere and eventually it wasn't worth my time, stress or effort.

Thats it, and I always try to look at the bright side of life. Im alive, I am travelling the world, I am healthy and am right where I want to be.  Just another learning experience in my life and a warning to other backpackers, be aware.

Final Thoughts

Despite the above, everything on this trip was flawless.  Some of the most memorable 4 months of my life and proud of myself I made it happen. I always wondered what Australia would be like and it always interested me.  Well I conquered it, well not all of it, but a good chunk. Pretty big country.  I like the fact that I have travelled more around Australia than I have travelled the in the States.  The world is where its at, there is so much to see and learn from it. New cultures, new places, new food, who wouldn't want to experience it? I see this trip as a 5th year in college, because to be honest, I think you can learn just as much in the outside world than in a classroom or textbook, if not more.

It's been a great one Australia, hope to see you again someday mate.

Melbourne

Day 1

After my great couple of days in Cairns, it was time to take my first australian domestic flight to Melbourne. The flight was almost an hour delayed but really didn't mind as I had nothing much planned. I was pretty excited about was flying outside of the US....boy how less strict the regulations are. Not sure what the rules and regulations are back home, but it was great being able to fly again bringing on unlimited amounts of liquids. I brought a 2 liter bottle of water thru the security checkpoint, and didnt have to go thru paying double the price of water after the checkpoint just to stay hydrated on the flight. Just like the good ole days before terrorists made it almost an incovenience to fly around in the states. Another thing, which i was a bit suprised about, was that my passport was checked once, only when I was checking in at the airline counter to get my boarding pass. My passport was never checked at the security checkpoint or before boarding the plane. Found it a bit odd but non the less security obviously was pretty laid back.

Anyhow, the flight into Melbourne was about 3 hours long, went by extremely quick, partially to the fact that I slept almost half of it.

The Melbourne Airport is almost 30 kilometers outside the city center, so had to catch a shuttle to my accomodation. I am staying in a suburb of Melbourne, St. Kilda. St. Kilda has had a dodgy, seedy past with the streets prowling with drug dealers and prostitutes. Today it is filled with cafes and restaurants and heaps of backpackers. It is very close proximity to the beach and about a 15 minute tram ride out from the city. The hostel I am staying at, Coffee Palace, is pretty run down and may have been used as a brothel back in the "old" St. Kilda days. Really has some good character here, ha.

The night I got in, I took a stroll around St. Kilda, towards the beach, etc. While on the stroll, I bumped into my old roomate from Sydney, Flora. Small world. She was also stayin in the same hostel and it was good to catch up with her. She was taking off for Adelaide the next day so we caught up over a couple drinks in the hostel lounge area.

Day 2

Great Ocean Road, See Post Below

Day 3

Today I finally made my way into the city center. I hopped on one of the trams and made the quick journey to the tourist infested Melbourne hot spots. First stop was Federation Square. Melbourne is known as the fashion capital of Australia and definitely a lot of flare goin on in and around the city. Federation Square is surrounded by some cool modern architechured buildings with heaps of restaruants and entertainment to tickle your fancy.

After walkin around the square, I took a stroll along the Yarra River and headed towards Melbourne Park, the home of Rod Laver Arena and The Australian Open.

Just a few photos from the walk:

Just two days after Roger Federer won the grand slam title, the area was filled with contruction workers taking down all of the tournement buildings and promo areas. Didn't get a chance to see inside the legendary arena, but atleast snapped a shot outside of it.

From there I hopped back on one of the citys many trams and made way to the Botanical Gardens.

There I took a pretty good nap and caught up with my favorite free australian newspaper, The MX. The MX is filled with useless stories from around the world, celebrity gossip, and a good horoscope section. It is put out by the goverment and made available nearby all transport hubs...all the work commuters pick it up. The paper is filled with rubbish information but everyone seems to pick it up and pass the time with it. I read it in Sydney everyday but have been without it for a month since it wasn't in print on the east coast, only the major cities. It is good to have it back again.

As you can tell, I really enjoy touring Botanical Gardens. After seeing the three major east coast cities gardens I would rank them as, #1 Sydney, #2 Brisbane, #3 Melbourne. The backdrop of Sydney's with the harbour, bridge, and opera house makes it a clear favorite for me.

After a relazing, calm, self meditating sesh in the gardens I headed back to the hostel.

I showered up and headed back into the city where I was headed on a train to go meet up with a family friends, friend. Bob lived about 30 minutes outside of the city. Bob took me to his home where we shared stories and had a bit of vino. From there we made way into a nearby town to his favorite Italian restaurant, can't remember the name for the life of me, but it was EXCELLENT. This may have been due to the fact that it was only my 3rd or 4th sitdown dinner in Australia, but nonetheless it was great. We had a garlic pizza appetizer and I went for the carbonara gnocchi for the main...damn was it good.

Anyway, really enjoyed meeting Bob, a great aussie. He then drove me all the way back to my hostel as we listened to two of his favorite bands, The Eagles and The Bee Gees.

Day 4

Today I slept in a bit, (10 oclock). Funny how i call that sleeping in now, as back home or in college that time would be like sunrise to me. Oh how travelling has improved my lifestyle. Today the rain was out, but like always, I wasn't let it going to deter me from doing what I wanted to do. I went back into the city to go take a gander at the Queen Victoria Markets, the largest open air markets in the southern hemisphere. It reminded me a whole lot of Sydney's Paddys Markets, just heaps of stalls, all selling the same exchact merchandise with competitive prices.

Anyhow I managed to pick up my first round of souvenirs. Don't expect anything at all if I dont know you or like you. If you are expecting something, dont get too excited as I dont have the funds nor the luggage space to accommodate your likings. For myself, the didgeridoos have really been standing out at me, they are such a cool instrument and the aboriginal artwork on some of them are sick. I will hold out from buying one until I know how to play it and have the luggage space to bring one home. Plus I have been told I can make one out of a pvc pipe, so will try that back home. They are extremely difficult to play so I have great respect for any musician that can master to 'doo.  It requires a circular breathing motion that does not come easy. A lot of training and practice has to go into getting it down.

The fruit and vegetable of the section may be the most impressive parts of the markets.

Although they didnt have this variety of cherries, the market atmosphere reminded me alot of that time with, BING CHERRIES, GET YOUR BING CHERRIES. Little inside joke for the fam. Yes but all the merchants would be yelling out their best priced products, plus it was closing time and they were all slashing their prices. I quickly jumped on a box of strawberries for 1 dollar, they were damn good. Also picked up some chili flavored rice crisps, after I tried the free sample I was hooked.

I spent the remainder of the day back in St. Kilda, walking along the beach and out to St. Kilda Pier.  The pier is an extremely popular fishing spot and also a breeding calling to the Little Penguins.  I was able to spot 2 of them in the rocks.

Melbourne Skyline

My evening walk also led me past Luna Park, the city's main amusement park.  Sydney also has a luna park. Anyhow the park entrance is a widely known icon.  Also had some fun with some trippy mirrors inside the park.

Reminds me of days before I hit my growth spurt 

Later in the night there was a reggae band playing at the pub right on the nearby corner from my hostel.  I casually went just to quickly check them out...woo what a find.  This 6 piece reggae band put on a hell of a show.  One of the best live reggae acts i've seen and it was all for the price of free.  They were called, "Jahmakn It Funky" a cheesy yet quite clever band name.  Mostly Bob Marley covers and other roots reggae songs, but it was the vocals of the lead singer that really captivated me, along with the bongo drummer that was absolutely jammin. Ended up being a pretty memorable night.

Day 5


Woke up relatively early and took advantage of the hostels daily free pancake breakfast.  Right now writing this blog from a local cafe having a cappuccino and enjoying the free wireless access.  Flight is at 430 back to Sydney but need to take a lengthy shuttle to the airport around 2.  Raining today so not much else on the agenda.

Recap


Enjoyed Melbourne, 4 days for me here was plenty, could have done with 3.  Not much goin on in the city center other than a bunch of shopping.  Perfect for fashion setters and trenders, but for your average straight man, not much for your fancy inside the city centre.  Glad I stayed out in the suburb of St. Kilda, much of a younger crowd and laid back vibe.  It rained 2 out of 4 days but nothing like the rain back in wet north Queensland.

Looking forward to my final 4 nights in Australia back in Sydney, wouldn't want to spend them anywhere else.  I have some good day trips planned but the weather is currently forecasted to rain and thunder.  Won't be too devastated if I can't do them but definitely not ideal.