Final Thoughts

This blog entry, the first of hopefully many more frequent ones, was written on the ferry which took us from Wellington to Picton in New Zealand. Today we start our trip around the magnificent south island by car. But before I even start to write about our Kiwi experience I feel I should at least summarise the past five months I have spent in Australia. It has been difficult keeping my journal up to date and I apologise to all those who have been reading my blog religiously. Especially to those who are apparently experiencing severe withdrawl symptoms (and there are quite a few you so thank you!). I suppose this could be called my Oz retrospective if you like and here it is:

Since arriving in Sydney I have successfully managed to...

Find an apartment. After a while the guesthouse where I originally resided started to take its toll (as I'm sure you can recall from my earlier blog entry called 'Tales from Lilting House'). It was early in November when I realised that it was time to start looking for something more condusive to the needs of refined man like myself and was lucky enough to find a suitable apartment in Newtown. I shared the place with three outrageous girls from Glasgow who actually turned out to be the perfect flat mates. Louisa, Leigh and Nat arrived in Australia at the same time as us after finishing their trip to South America. Essentially, they are doing the exact reverse of our trip and plan to visit parts of Asia before returning home. I met Louisa on her first shift behind the bar at Zanzibar where I was working at the time. We got on really well together and it was on that first day when she suggested that I should move in with her and the girls. A few days later I visited the apartment and met Nat and Leigh for the first time. I remember the apartment was much bigger than I had expected. It was unfurnished except for a couch, two chairs and a coffee table. It reminded me of Big Brother because it was so big and bright and felt exactly like the tv show. The apartment consisted of three bedrooms, one bath and an area that the girls liked to call 'the gym'. Essentially it was just a huge expanse of space at the top of the stairs which was home to a piece of ab-curling equipment. As far as I can remember, it never got used. I did however enjoy spending time on the balcony which overlooked Sydney's impressive skyline and our pretty street below lined with Victorian terraced houses.

Work. When I first arrived in Sydney I had approximately three weeks worth of cash to keep me going. I panicked. I got the first job I could find at a local bar until the stress started to ease. After about a month I started focussing my sights on bigger, more beneficial opportunities within the design community. Bang! It all started when Ali kindly put in a good word for me at a design agency called Bang where she had already found work as a freelancer. I was covering her absence while she traveled around Australia with her parents for two weeks. During my time there one of the employees asked if I would be interested in designing a magazine for her friend. He works for a publishing company that produces several nationally distributed magazines and they were in need of a designer to create this years annual Summer Festival Guide - a magazine providing full listings of music festivals around Australia in addition to interviews, travel features, fashion, film and other entertainment reviews. I was asked to create some "sample pages" to prove to the client that I could the job. They liked what they saw and asked me to start work a few weeks later. I don't have much experience working with editorial but I really enjoyed the project. I'm even thinking about pursuing that area of design when I return home. I enjoyed the freedom and ability to be creative in a much more expressive and direct way. For quite some time now I have been feeling very uninspired working within the corporate world and never felt comfortable or enjoyed what I was asked to do. For the first time in my career as a graphic designer I have 100% actually enjoyed working on the project and maintained passion for it throughout. In addiiton, my work was not only appreciated, but respected. Half way through the project I was also asked to re-design the company's website. Once both projects were completed I became a permanent member of their design team on the main magazine. Most recently I was also asked to design an entire issue of their fashion magazine. In addition to this I worked independently for clients that were refered to me by several of the employees. In total, since working for the company I have created 4 identity projects, 2 websites, 2 magazines and 43 page spreads throughout 9 issues of the main magazine. Needless to say, work was abundant and money was earned. Which brings me quite nicely to my next subject...

Spend lots of money. Living in Australia ain't cheap and the more I earned the more I seemed to spend. You have to understand that I had been starved of the good life for so long and could barely resist a single opportunity to purchase new clothing, eat breakfast at cafés, dine with friends, drink good wine, or reward myself at a bar after a hard day's work. Basically, I had no money to save until I made a more disciplined effort and behaved myself towards the end.

Enjoy eating Vegemite. Yes. It's hard to believe but I did actually somehow manage to develop a taste for something which almost made me sick the first time I tried it. I suggest spreading it lightly on toast with Philly cheese. Mmmm!

Travel. It took a long time before I was in a suitable position to venture outside Sydney and start exploring the rest of Australia (of which there is a lot of). In fact it was only within the last six weeks when I started freaking out and filled up my calendar with weekend trips here there and everywhere. It made sense to see as much of Australia as I could while I was here and wanted ensure that I utilised my remaining time on Oz effectively. I'm reasonably happy with my efforts and content with what I´ve seen.

In addition to the afore mentioned tropical Queensland adventure I have also visited several major cities within Australia. Melbourne is one of them. Canberra was the other. The latter of which was met with such disdain that I don´t really want to write about it. Ali and I were prepared for Canberra and knew about it´s apparent lifeless aspects but didn't expect it ALL to be that drab. Which is precisely the reason why we wanted to visit. We wanted to see just how bad the city really was and instantly discovered... that it really was as bad as we had thought! Melbourne on the other hand was much more pleasant and full of character. The trip was inspired (almost encouraged) by Ali as she very generously bought me a $50 gift certificate towards the flight of my choice. Ali reminded me that she had been fortunate enough to visit much of Australia with her parents already and thought that I would really enjoy a solo trip to Melbourne. She was right.


A historic tram passes Luna Fun Park at St. Kilda


Melbourne taken from the steps of a museum


Cool new Federation Square contrasts with classic Flinders St. Station.

We also managed to survive abseiling in the Blue Mountains and enjoyed a not so traditional Christmas at Jervis Bay (check out December 25th entry). There are however some places that I never got to see and just couldn't possibly justify doing. Take Ayers Rock (also known by the aboriginals as Uluru) for example. It's just a rock. A huge giant rock in the middle of a dessert that apparently changes colour throughout the day. A trip that would set me back a hefty $500. Just to see a rock! But it does look incredible and it's one of those things that I'm starting to feel guilty about not doing just because it's iconic.


The Three Sisters in Katoomba at the Blue Mountains


I await my 50m absail down a waterfall

Make new friends. It goes without saying that I met many people during my time in Australia and have subsequently made several new friends. I will definitely be visiting Ali´s flatmates Ella and Mark (a couple from Bristol) when I return home and will most likely catch up with Leigh, Louisa and Nat from Glasgow respectively. Ever since I got to know Louisa's sister Susie, our relationship has been very special. Susie has helped fuel my appetite for the good life and hardly a week went by without her instigating such endeavors like drinking the most expensive cocktails at the Shangri-La or dining out at less than affordable restaurants wearing Prada shirts that travelers aren't usually persuaded to spend their money on. When I first moved into the apartment I walked by my neighbors who had their door wide open and were sat watching TV. Steve and Charlie introduced themselves and said something along the lines of "don´t be a stranger, just be strange". Since then I have regarded them as great friends and have very much enjoyed their company and hospitality.


Me, Anne, Mark and Ella

Miss home. It was quite obvious not so long ago that my enthusiasm for the remainder of our trip had deteriorated quite significantly. I was waiting for a burst of energy to get my adventurous juices flowing again and strained to put my desires for relationships and stability aside so that I could continue to enjoy the trip of a lifetime. I miss my family and friends so much. I especially can't wait to see my new born niece Evie. She's just over 2 months old now and I'm disheartened by the fact that I wont get to see her until August. For a while I kept trying to convince myself that it's worth it. Luckily, on the day of departure, I regained some of that lost enthusiasm for traveling and it didn´t take long before I was back in the routine of traveling, and lovin' it!

Sailing the Whitsunday Islands

This is a shot of our boat taken from the dinghy

I never thought for one second that sailing would be on our agneda. At least not on this trip. We were fortunate enough to spend 3 days and two nights onboard Matador, the largest racing yacht ever built, and sailed around the many beautiful islands of Whitsundays. The boat has competed in 52 races, 8 regattas, and 2 World Maxi Championships undefeated. To purchase one of these speedy little sailing boats would set you back a mere US$20 million.

On the day of departure we were driven to the harbor early in the morning to meet the other guests and board the yacht. I think there were 12 of us in total. I looked up and frowned at the overcast sky which threatened to rain at any moment. I wondered what the weather had in store for us over the next three days and asked one of the crew members for a forecast. As he gathered what seemed to be a neverending piece of rope he replied, "maybe 25 knots". I wasn't exactly sure what that meant and asked him the same question again but in a slightly different way... "will it be sunny and stay dry?" He confirmed it should be nice weather for the most of the trip, but as for the knots... I'll get to that later.

It wasn't long before we made ourselves comfortable on deck and started cruising. In addition to the 12 guests on board we were accompanied by a host, two crew members and a skipper. The skipper, who looked a bit like Jack Nicholson (so I called him Skipper Jack), briefed us about what to expect over the next three days and also, more surprisingly, what was expected of us. Because the Matador is a racing yacht, it requires a minimum of 14 people to opperate it successfully. Apparently we had just joined the crew. Within minutes after his talk he cut the engine and asked for 8 volunteers to assist in pulling up the sails. Ali and I both volunteered. As we frantically started winding I could see the sail above us getting pulled higher and watched as it started flapping in the wind like crazy. Once it stabilised we sailed swiftly towards the islands in the distance.


The front of the boat during sail

After about an hour of sailing I couldn't help but notice an eerie dark patch of sea up ahead. It was a storm. Skipper Jack told us to hold on tight as he sailed right into it. First, it started raining. Heavily. Then the winds picked up. And then they picked up a bit more. The next thing we knew, our boat was almost horizontal and the top of the sail was way too close to the surface of the water. The entire group grasped onto the opposite edge of the boat in fear. It was at this point when I realised what the ledges on the surface of the deck were for. Feet! At first it was fun, but after a while of it progressively getting worse I started to panick. The problem was that we had not been told to expect such conditions. I had no idea if what we were experiencing was normal. I studied Skipper Jack´s facial expressions to determine whether he looked scared or not. Surely that would be an indication. I mean, if he was scared, then I should almost certainly have been soiling my pants!

We survived the storm and I later asked one of the crew members how intese it was on the grand scale of extreme sailing. It wasn't even close. We had experienced wind speed of about 22 knots. Gale force is between 30 to 40, and the Matador has survived almost 60 before! From then on, my mind was at ease and I enjoyed every second of it. In fact, I could hardly wait for the next one.


Taken just before we sailed through a storm

Throughout the trip Skipper Jack anchored the boat for lunch as well as in the evening to eat dinner sleep. He would often sail into a small enclosure that offered superb views of remote beaches and other islands in the distance. The food was consistantly good and our group was full of friendly people to talk to.


The crew and it's passengers

Ali and I both snorkeled at various locations which was great except for the stingers. Unfortunately it's that horrid time of year when lethal jelly fish litter the waters around the Great Barrier Reef. Stinger suits offered 98% protection against their attack but I was still apprehensive. I always entered the water with confidence and optimism. I had loads of fun seeing all types of different fish and diving down to take closer looks. I would just start to think about how wonderful it was that there were no jelly fish until all of a sudden I would look up and see eight of them bobbing up and down all around me. A mine field! My usual course of action would be panick followed by extreme kicking and crazy arm movements in all directions while trying to establish an exit point. After about 30 minutes or so of dodging these nasty creatures I would eventullly realise that I was no longer having fun any more and retire back to the yacht for a cup of tea.


Ali and I dressed in our protective stinger suits


Our Yacht taken from Whitehaven Beach


I take the wheel (eeek!)


Ali relaxing just before we set sail


I'm in this one if you look closely

Bush Safari with Peachy & Crow

There are in fact about 5 kangaroos hidden in this shot (honestly)

I made it clear from the offset that we didn't want to participate in one of those popular over-crowded commercialised tours. When the travel agent told us about an alternative tour which offered an altogether different experience we couldn't wait to sign up.

This morning we were picked up by Peachy and his 4x4 off-road vehicle. His real name is Lance Pietsch but everyone calls him Peach. He is as one could say 'the real deal' - born and raised in the bush, he made his living as a crocodile hunter before becoming a tour guide many years ago. He introduced us to his mate 'Crow' who was sitting in the passenger seat and announced that he was also coming along for the ride. Crow didn't say much and never took the sunnies (Australian for sunglasses) off his face the whole trip. As Peachy drove out of Cairns I asked him what he had planned for the day. Once he told me, I couldn't wait!


There's no terrain that deters Peachy and his 4x4

Peachy took us deep into the bush and tropical rainforests of the Atherton Tableland, a World Heritage area renowned for it's high-altitude forest. The name of his tour "Off the Beaten Track" is highly appropriate considering he made extremely good use of the vehicle’s capabilities and got us up close and personal with the native flora and fauna. We braced oursleves as Peachy drove almost vertically up and down terrain that clearly hadn't been covered by anyone else. Tree branches whipped and snapped against the vehicle as he successfully maneuvered through dense forest. By activating the windscreen wipers he removed the branches and parts of bush that had been building up. It wasn't long before we had our first sighting of Kangaroos although they were very well hidden. Ali and I loved asking him questions about what we were looking at. Our experience with Peachy was like Crocodile Dundee and David Attenborough rolled into one. It was great!


These Kangaroos couldn't hide so easily

Another highlight of the day was the true Aussie-style BBQ lunch that he provided for us. Without a doubt the best t-bone steak I've ever ate! Ali concurred.


This ladies and gentlemen, is a termite mound.

All in all, we managed to see kangaroos, platypus, dragon lizards, turmite mounds and some of the most spectacular scenery in Queensland. A very enjoyable day indeed.

Crocodiles and Fern Gullies

The rain forest at Mossman Gorge

I came very close to discovering my utopia today. When I think back to when Ali and I started preparing for our big adventure and making lists (very long ones) of the places we wanted to visit and the adventures we wanted to experience I remembered that this idyllic environment of mine — wherever it might be — was always at the top of them. So it was here in Queensland, Australia where I came a little closer to realising my dream.

Early this morning Ali and I rented a car and drove north along the Captain Cook highway from Cairns. We followed the winding road along the coastline which boasted incredible views of the Pacific until we finally arived at our first destination. Located just 7 miles west of Port Douglas is Mossman Gorge, part of the Daintree National Park which is home to vast amounts of lush tropical rain forest. We enjoyed a beautiful 2 hour walk rumaging through ferns, gasping at gigantic trees and swinging on vines. Well, actually... it was just me who attempted such Tarzan-like activities and I lasted quite a while until I lost control. At the end of our walk we stopped at the creek for a dip.


I was content with relaxing on a rock


whereas Ali however...

Our next exciting destination was only an hours drive back north to a crocodile farm called Hartley's where we were allowed to take a look (very closely!) at Australia´s well known native animals.


Meet Koala. Cute but boring


The very scary Cassawara (huge flightless bird)

We booked ourselves on a boat tour around the wetlands to see crocodiles feed on rotten bird carcasses (mmmm). I couldn´t believe how high they jumped out of the water. Afterwards we watched a show aptly named 'Crock Attack' which featured a crazy Aussie man playing with a crocdile. He simultaneously tormented the animal and terrified the audience. I understand that he obviously knew what he was doing but I still couldn't help but gasp in astonishment as he addressed the audience seemingly unaware that the angry crocodile could be swimming towards him at any moment. The water was mirky so you couldn't easily identify the posision of the submersed animal which meant there was an extreme element of danger involved. This man happily stood in the water whilst admitting that fact that crocodiles have been responsible for several fatal accidents in recent years. It was only when he splashed water in the right place that the croc revealed himself by leaping out of the water to take a giant bite of air.


I kept my body well inside the boat during this one


Crazy Aussie riles the hungry croc


Don't look so big when they're hiding in the water do they?