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Why did
I go travelling this time, at the age of 28 when most people
are getting married/ a mortgage/kids etc.? Unlike last time
I was not really escaping work, running away from a very stressful
job. I was quite settled in fact (though now I know that I was
settled in the wrong things). Work was OK, at times quite enjoyable,
my house good, though increasingly the mess was annoying me,
I was starting to get healthy (up to the Munich  beer
festival anyway). So things were pretty OK and I could have
kept going and yet I went since for me travelling always seems
better than staying at home. Winter in the UK sucks, no matter
what…so the plan was…go to Australia with Alison for
four weeks, after two of those weeks meet my dad for 10 weeks,
then go to New Zealand and meet JD for 3 weeks before coming
home on my own via the Cook Islands, Fiji and the States. Budget
was £6000 for 6 months away.
Going away
was OK, it was bad timing with regards to Billy who knows what
will happen when I get back? But I got a good sending off, paid
for drinks at work at lunch time, then went out to Covent Garden
and all my house came + JD and some people from work. Had a
nice dinner with my flatmates the night before I left and they
all chipped in for a huge breakfast that Alex cooked in the
morning. Alison came to my place and, hung over and a bit stoned,
we went to the airport (thanks for driving Charlotte, thanks
for coming Billy) to catch a flight to OZ.
Sydney
(7 days)
Arrived
in Sydney after a long but uneventful flight via Singapore.
We talked to some Canadian guy who immigrated to Sydney and
was loving the place.And it was pretty cool. We did the usual
things I guess, walked around Harbour Bridge, the Opera House,
the Rocks, took the ferry to Manly Beach (nice) and the bus
to Bondi Beach (not so nice, but OK), went to the zoo (nice,
pictures with Koalas) and the Aquarium at Manly beach (waste
of money). It was all pretty pleasant. Everyone is friendly,
compared to London the pace is pretty slow (though Australians
always say how busy it is).
Highlights
were without a doubt the nights out. One night we met up with
Cath, a girl I met travelling in NZ in 1999. She came from work
and conversation was a bit formal at first. We went to some
Bavarian place on the Rocks, bad choice as it had a loud Umpah
band inside and it was cold outside, but we then went to a nearby
hotel where we sat at the bar a nd
got drunk. A local two man band came on and a dancing crowd
developed, good fun, but Cath had to work the next day and as
she had a long way to go home we left at bout 11:00.
The next
night Cath did not feel like going out, but we met up with Sam,
a friend of Alison's friend in London, a bit of a blind date
really, Alison was quite nervous. But it was good, he turned
up with a female friend (Melinda), we went for some Japanese
food and then on to a small pub where his friends were supposed
to be playing in a band. We came too late for his friends set
but in time for some super loud punk shit. We could not really
talk but got drunk, shouted and had a good enough time to agree
to meet up the following night for a big night out.
We met
at the Lord Nelson pub, far end of the Rocks, I think there
was about 12 of us to start with, all Sam's friends. Had about
5 of the local brew pints in 2 hours, then half of us moved
on to the hotel bar we were at two nights before, got very drunk
there, my head was spinning, but good fun, until six of us,
Sam, Sam, Melinda, Ally, myself and whatshisname went to some
techno club not far away. I was hammered, glad not to be sick
in the cab, but sober enough to realize that alcoholic drinks
were off the menu for the rest of the night. So we went in,
Alison pissed, Sam (girl) almost unconscious, clinging to me,
Sam (guy) hyper and rearing to go dancing.
 I
actually quite enjoyed the music, good fun for a while anyway,
very energetic in a room full of zombies, but after half an
hour I was soaking, sweated out all the alcohol and just sat
down and chilled until we left at sunrise.
The next
day we felt like shit, Alison so bad she did not fancy the bus
journey to Byron Bay (12 hours, not good I admit), so we booked
a fight instead (money going VERY fast at that stage…)
Byron
Bay 12/11/02-14/12/02
Major problems
arriving at Lismore, it was cold and raining and Alison was
freaking as she was worried it would stay bad for the next few
weeks. Tense moments in the cab (no chance of getting a bus
when she is in that mood) but turned out OK as Byron Bay is
a pretty cool place and it was boiling the next day.
Although
a regular stop-over on the main tourist route up the east-coast
there are no high rise buildings, no McDonalds but instead more
alternative shops, healthy food cafes and a number of hippies
hanging around the beach (plus of course a fair number of tourists
and travellers). We did not really do much, apart from sitting
on the beach and getting fried, but then there is not really
that much else to do.
Highlight
was when we were in bed and Alison started screaming and pointing
at the ceiling where a big fat nasty looking spider was hurrying
along. I caught it in the end, scary, and once I brought it
outside was told by the owner that it was a Huntsman and that
it was better not to piss them off, great.
Brisbane
and Noosa
Took the
bus up to Byron Bay (2 hours I think). Most Australians say
that Brisbane is really boring but we were  OK.
It was bloody hot, and we got soaked just walking along the
river, checking out the air-coned museum and having a dip in
the artificial beach in South Bank Park.
Met dad
(who was joining me for the next 10 weeks) and drove up to Noosa,
a place I had not heard of before coming to OZ but that seemed
to be a regular stop on the east coast, so we thought why not.
Noosa is
is at the north end of Sunshine Coast, some 3-storey hotels,
some upmarket restaurants and boutiques, lots of retirement
villas and beach front apartments but also a lot of travellers
and a fairly relaxed pace. The main attraction is the small
national park next to the main beach, good short walks, nice
beaches and we saw our first Koala…Great…
Fraser
Island
After a
scenic drive up the coast we got to Hervey Bay, stop off to
Fraser Island. There are basically two ways to see Fraser Island,
either by self-drive safari (get six travellers into a 4-wheel
drive, load up on beer and just head onto the island), or by
organised tour (get forty tourists into a huge 4-wheel drive
bus and ship them round the island and put them up in a nice
hotel at night). We chose the latter option, mainly because
Alison did not want to camp and dad is not to keen on dug out
toilet, but for me it was the wrong option. The hotel was nice,
the tours informative, but I'd much rather get stoned under
the stars on some remote beach than follow an  organised
schedule, but I guess it was democracy at work.
We saw
the sites, nice lakes, 70-mile beach, had a scary night walk
along the beach with a dingo (even though at the time I did
not know that they also attacked grown ups occasionally), yet
I think in hindsight it would have been best for us maybe to
get a car for ourselves and pay for the hotel separately….oh
well.
Whitsundays
(3 days on Hamilton island/ 3 days sailing)
Now for
me a sailing trip in the Whitsundays was one of the things I
had looked forward to the most, but neither dad nor Alison were
too keen. Things got further complicated when we wanted to book
the sailing trip for the next day but all the good boats where
full. Bummer. So we decided to go to one of the islands for
3 days (more tanning for Alison), stay in a nice hotel, and
then do the boat trip after that.
We went
to Hamilton Resort on Hamilton Island, a huge high-rise hotel
complex, as far away from my idea of travelling as possible,
yet surprisingly I liked it. There were good jungle walks, our
apartment was top class, we just hung around the pool, did most
of the walks, I started jogging, not much happened but it was
such a friendly & pretty place that it was hard not to enjoy
it. 
The three-day
sailing trip was very cool though. It did not start to well
as we got to the boat about 10 minutes early and the crew were
not that keen to see us (turns out they had been drinking until
about 4.00 am the night before).
The boat,
a fake 1950s schooner, about 30m long with 21 passengers and
four crew, was pretty cool though not as clean as the brochure
suggested. The people were all OK, quite a few Germans (nice
couple doing semester in Sydney), a few English, one Australian,
and Sam?, a Scotsman, incredibly opinionated and talkative,
but also very funny and most of the time we spent chatting to
him and smoking joints under the stars at night-time. He owned
a restaurant somewhere in Glasgow, but got a bit burned out
and took a year off, just flying back once for a big brother
audition.
The whole
trip was good fun, we stopped at several nice beaches for snorkelling
and sunbathing, and the view into Whithaven beach is pretty
spectacular. I slept on the deck which was pretty cold but much
better than the stuffy air in the small room below deck.
 I
kept thinking about doing a sailing holiday, just get a few
friends together, get a boat and cruise the Caribbean for a
few months, just visiting uninhabited islands and chilling out
on the boat. On our last day on the Derwent Hunter we got a
bit of a breeze and out up the sails. The motion of the boat,
plus the effects of a mild sunstroke as well as a stomach bug
combined to make me quite ill by the time we reached the shore,
and any dreams of sailing holidays were put on hold for a while
(still gonna do it though…)
Well Dad
and myself drove off to Cairns the next day while Alison stayed
for another day to fly back home via Sydney the next day. Said
our good-byes, sad, but not heart broken, definitely felt closer
by the time we left compared to when we first got on the plane
in London, I think she felt the same and whatever happens I
feel we will stay good friends even if our lives drift apart.
We picked
up the car in Cairns early in the morning. It was an old Toyota
Land Cruiser, converted into a 4Wdrive campervan, with about
170,000 miles on the clock. It was a bit knackered but looked
quite sturdy.
We left
Cairns at about 11:00 am and drove up to Cape Tribulation, via
Daintree River, very-nice-rainforest-growing-right-into-the
sea kind of scenery, but still felt pretty bad from stomachaches.
Went up Mossman Gorge for some OK jungle walk and a nice swim,
Camp site at Noah beach was basic and full of mossies, not that
great…Next day packed up quickly (more hungry mossies)
,did some more nature board-walks (few animals, lots of tourists
on "eco-tours"), played with a baby flying fox in
the bat museum, then stared of the long drive  proper…
Drive
to Alice Springs (6 days)
The next
few days we spent driving through outback roads to Alice Springs,
along little used developmental highways, whatever that means,
and then along Plenty Highway, a proper outback route with hundred
of kilometers of nothingness between small settlements and aboriginal
communities. It was summer in the outback and there was virtually
no traffic, except for the occasional road train or a knackered
Toyota carrying about a dozen aborigines.
The
first day was a short drive to Lake Eacham (~200km) into
the Table Land, away from the sea and almost at once the humidity
level drops and rainforest is replaced by rolling countryside
largely used for farming. We stopped at a campsite near Eacham
Lakes that night, close to Atherton, quite a change from the
crowds of the east coast, there was only one other car, but
plenty of birds trying to steal our food.
Day
2 was our first full day drive (550km), from Lake Eacham
to Normanton along the Gulf Highway. The landscape soon began
to get drier and flatter and soon we were driving through scenery
we considered proper outback. Very few town now, just a few
turn offs leading to huge farms, a car every 30 minutes or so,
but still sealed roads and no feeling of if-we-break-down-now-we-are-buggered.
I was afraid that once we stated driving through scenery like
this I would get bored but that was not the case. We put on
some Chilled Ibiza CD, I put my feet up and watched the scenery
go by, and we just talked about where to stop off, what sights
to see along the way (though there were not that many) and god
and the world.
Day
3 we had another long drive, from Normanton to Mt Isa (~500km),
along the Burke Matilda Developmental Road. The scenery was
pretty dull along this stretch, not much happened and we were
glad to finally make it into MtIsa, a fairly large city in the
outback that is built around a strong mining industry.
Stayed
at a backpackers that night, first one on this trip, first one
for dad ever I think. Was pretty run down, but it was nice to
have some young company for a change, and I soon got chatting
to a German girl who had been working at the hostel for a few
months. Other highlight was replacing the windscreen which had
a crack that  was
growing too fast for comfort ($240, not as bad as we had feared).
The next
day (day 5) we drove to Tobermorey via Urundangi, basically
a short cut to the get to the Plenty Highway from MT Isa, not
far, about 275km, but this was now proper outback driving. We
checked the road condition before we left MtIsa, it was OK,
but they just said take lots of water because of it rains you
can get stuck for a couple for days. The first hour was along
sealed roads, but then at the turn off to Urundangi the gravel
road started. The first 10 minutes was terrible. The road was
pretty wide, about 10 meters, but so damaged by corrugation
that it was almost impossible to drive on. We managed about
20 km/h for the first half-hour, but then the road improved
and we carried on at about 50 km/h, yet still frequently slowing
down for wholes in the road and badly corrugated stretches.
Spent a few hours getting to Tobermorey where we were the only
people at a nice campsite. A proper outback place, just one
farm (selling petrol and some food), a few camping spots, nothing
else around for hundreds of kilometers. I went for a good run,
then with dad for a walk were we saw about a dozen kangaroos
drinking from a water tank. They would let us approach to about
50 meters, then run off a bit, stop, turn around, and watch
us until we came too close and then run off again.
Day
6 was a good full day drive along Plenty Highway to Gemtree
Lodge, scenery mostly flat and pretty boring, but impressive
termite mounds (one about 5 meters high), and a few interesting
mountain ranges. Gemtree had a good campsite, a short walking
track explaining the locals plants, even a mini golf course,
all built by a former gem cutter about 10 years ago. Not a bad
idea, quite constructive, must be fun to create your own tourist
business from scratch, not just open another backpackers in
Sydney, but find some unspoiled beautiful spot on the planet
and open it up to people (and spoil it?)…I thought plenty
more about this on the trip…
Still
to come….
Centre
Flinders Ranges
Kangaroo Island
Adelaide
Grampians
Great Ocean Road
Melbourne
Left Melbourne
around 6.00 p.m. on 30/12/02 flying to Hobart. We originally
planned to get the ferry but it was booked until January 4th,
so looked into flights and got a good deal (69$ one way) with
Virgin Blue.
First impressions
not good, as it was raining hard when we landed, the first proper
rain since I arrived in Australia. We checked into a pub/hotel,
the Prince of Wales at Battery Point, had some wine (2 liters)
dad collapsed into bed, I went to fetch some Vietnamese take-away,
then went to bed early as well.
Then on
the 31st got up at 5.00 a.m. to catch the 7.00 a.m. Tassie Link
to Cradle Mountain Village. A bit of a trip, about 8 hours,
and though scenic it was raining harder the further we got into
the mountains and by the time we reached Cradle Mountains we
were up in the clouds and it was pretty wet. I had planned to
push on to the first hut that day, but the weather was too bad
so we decided to stay in the local backpackers instead. New
Year Eve was fairly quiet, I was determined not to go to bed
before midnight, and we found a friendly Swiss couple whom we
played cards with until the New Year had arrived. A slight change
from the normal piss-up, but no less enjoyable really.
Now the
Overland Track was quiet special, for a number of reasons. First
of all the scenery was pretty amazing, lovely alpine views,
pine forest and pretty lakes. Also walking for so many days
with little food always makes me feel very healthy and alive.
The best however were the people we met and the one that stands
out the most I guess is Jim.
We met
Jim at the bus that took us to the start of the walk, just as
it was starting to rain. He greeted us with a big open smile
and we got chatting and ended up walking most of the way together.
He was a big man with an even bigger pack, and as he was local
(from close to Hobart) I thought he was the walking kind, but
as soon as we it the first hill he started to breath real heavy,
and when he asked us whether we know CPR (and was not joking)
dad and I began to worry, but it turned out all right.
Anyway
here is a quick description of all the stages.
 Day
1 Cradle Valley -> Waterfall Hut via Horse Track (~10km)
Windy,
rainy with little views, but entertained by Jim's heavy panting
as he was trying to carry 30+ kilos up the highest climb of
the walk. Very nice hut though, luckily with spaces left, and
we met some German dude, Richard (whom we walked with for a
few days) and some couple from Sydney whom we met several times
over the next few days as well. Dinner, bed and first experience
of Jim's snoring (loud!). Also saw a wombat for the first (and
last) time just outside the hut.
Day
2 Waterfall Hut to New Pelion Hut via Windermere Hut
This stretch
is usually done in two days but by the time we got to Windermere
Hut it was still very cloudy and only about 11:30 a.m. so we
decided to push on. I had a look at the estimate times at the
back of the map and it said it was only 10 km or so to Pelion
Creek, which I thought must be close to Pelion Hut; however
as it turned out it was another 8km or so on top of that 10km,
and by the time we finally got to the Hut Jim and dad were not
too pleased with me, but after some coffee and hot food we settled
down quite nicely.
All day
the scenery looked like it might give spectacular views on a
nice day, but we still had low clouds (though little rain) ,most
annoying was the fact that we knew the photos would be pretty
poor due the lack of light.
New Pelion
Hut is huge, it sleeps about 60 people and though it is nice
enough it feels
somewhat impersonal. I much prefer the little huts, where you
are bound to get to chat with everyone staying the night because
there is only one table that everyone crowds around having cups
of coffee and 2-minute-noodles. But I had a good time anyway,
talking to dad, Jim and Richard about travel stories, as well
as quizzing a guy who had rafted the Franklin river a couple
of times, definitely a trip for the future if he was not exaggerating
too much.
Day
3, New Pelion Hut to Kia Ora Hut via MT Ossa (9km)
Today the
weather finally got better and I set off with Richard to climb
Mt Ossa before meeting up with dad and Jim at he hut.
The side
trip to Mt Ossa (1617m, about 400 meters up from the track)
was steep but well worth it. The views were impressive, though
there was still a lot of cloud about, yet there was untouched
nature as far as the eye could see and it really felt like a
voice as saying 'Ok lets just go out there and explore..)
Talking
to Richard was also interesting, we talked about his experiences
in Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia where he had worked, as
well as his hiking trips to Nepal, NZ and Tasmania. We also
talked about how gutted we were that we had not bought any properties
a few years back, as Melbourne seems to have gone as crazy as
London in terms of house prices (though he reckoned that nice
houses in North Adelaide were still pretty reasonable).
Back from
My Ossa the view down into the valley between Du Cane Range
and Cathedral Mountain was spectacular and I think I shot a
role in about ten minutes, hopefully will come out right.
 Kia
Ora hut is a little bit older, but my favorite hut on the track
as it has so much atmosphere. For some reason I started thinking
I want to be able to build my own hut, though when and where
are difficult questions. Maybe convert a barn in Yorkshire one
day? At the hut we also met Nicky, a manager who stayed the
night and had loads of interesting stories to tell about snake
bites (last person died about 50 years ago because she got bitten
in the bum and did not dare to tell anyone about it before it
was too late) lost people (young girl who got lost in a snowstorm
up in the Labyrinth a few years back, still missing) and the
glorious tasks of a ranger such as unblocking toilets and water
tanks. Very friendly, one of those people you just connect with.
Also bumped into team youth again, a guy and three girl vets
that were doing the same stages us, as well as a group of middle
aged ladies whom we had been meeting on and off for the last
few days.
Day
4, Kia Ora Hut to Windy Ridge (10km)
No the
most spectacular day as it is more or less just in the forest,
the old Du Cane hut is worth inspecting though as it shows how
hut building has improved over the years. The side trips to
the waterfalls were OK, worth it, but not critical if pressed
for time.
Richard
said good-bye to us at the hut as he was pressing on. Windy
Ridge Hut was not that special, but I had some interesting chats
with an American dude from Montana who had discovered travelling
somewhat belatedly in his life but was now making up for it.
He was planning to join the Victoria cycling club to do a tour
of Tasmania with some 1500 others.
Not too
much sleep as I was to a hard-core snorer who was not disturbed
by my constant hitting.
Day
5 Windy Ridge Hut to Pine Valley (12km) + Labyrinth side-trip
The side
trip to Pine Valley is substantial but really necessary as the
Acropolis and the Labyrinth are highlights not to be missed.
By now the weather was glorious, and after saying a temporary
good-bye to Jim (he invited us to stay with him in Hobart after
the walk) dad and I walked through beautiful pine forests to
Pine Valley Hut. The hut was nice enough, but our mood was sobered
by the poem and picture left by the parents of a girl who went
missing here 2 years ago. The poem ended with something like
"too young, too beautiful, too soon" and there was
a picture of her with a little puppy…very sad! Apparently
she walked up to the Labyrinth, got caught
in a snowstorm got lost and was never found.
But the
weather looked good for us and we set off to climb up to the
Labyrinth after lunch. It is hard to describe what exactly the
Labyrinth is, but basically it is just a plateau with loads
of lakes and many little hills, and although navigation on a
good day is easy as there are many big peaks around it is easy
to realize that in low cloud getting back could be tricky. We
did not venture too far from the beaten track, just took loads
of photos and again I was tempted just to pick a valley with
a nice river and explore it.
Went back
to the hut instead and enjoyed a good sleep as for once there
were no snorers around.
Day
6 Pine Valley to Cynthia Bay via Echo point Hut (28km, well
done dad)
Most people
get the ferry from the top of Lake StClair but dad, though knackered
from the previous day, was happy towalk the 16km or so along
the lake to complete the Overland Track in proper fashion. It
was another glorious day, not a single cloud in the sky, and
the walk again was through ancient pine forests, with Echo Hut
offering a good lunch stop. We got to the end of the track about
6.30 pm and went straight to the bar for a few beers, catching
up with the ladies and team youth who had gotten there a day
earlier. It was nice to be back in 'civilisation', but also
kind of sad because you just get used to the peacefulness of
the outdoors and the friendly hellos of the other hikers.
Still
to come
Rest of Tassa
Melbourne
Wilsons Prom
Drive to Sydney
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