Tasmania

Tasmania, little New Zealand as I have heard it called, is beautiful!! Very green and lush and full of natural beauties. I did a week here and I must admit that for small parts of it I was a little bored, which is something I haven't experienced on any other tour. But that aside let me tell you what my last week in Australia consisted of.

Hobart - I spent a few days here before my tour started with my Melbourne flat mates. We went to Salamanca market on the Saturday, which is a must, a really lively market full of food, drink, and a variety of stalls from gifts, to music to clothes and jewellery and art. There are also a lot of buskers around which add to the atmosphere. In the afternoon we headed off on the ferry to Mona. Mona is definitely a must see, it is a really interesting and bizarre art museum, with interactive art pieces to more traditional works, you would need to allow about 2 hours there to make the most of everything, although we spent 4 hours there including grabbing a drink afterwards. The ferry takes half an hour to get to Mona and is a fun way to travel.

The next day, James and Shireen headed off to do a day trip as they were flying back to Melbourne on Monday. So I spent the day exploring Hobart, I came across a farmers market with some of the girls from my room in the Hostel - The Pickled Frog (cute, friendly hostel) and had my first oyster! Then I walked around town a bit, which doesn't take very long as its a small town and then back to the Hostel to chill out before heading to Mures for fish and chips and another sad farewell!

The next day I started my 5 day tour with Under Down Under on the Famous 5 tour. Before I detail what we did on the tour, I would personally say that unless you are really interested in nature and walks that spending 5 days on a tour of Tasmania isn't needed. I would recommend that you do the East Coast only, because for me this was the more interesting side of Tasmania. Although the West was stunningly beautiful, I was a little bored the first few days, but thankfully I had the Hunger Games to keep me entertained.

The first day we departed Hobart and headed for Strahan, on the way stopping off at Lake St Clair, Russell Falls and Mt Field National Park, we spent the next two nights staying in a hostel near to Strahan harbour. Unfortunately, although I had advised them in advance, this particular tour company wasn't very on the ball at passing on information regarding dietary requirements, they also only supplied breakfast and the first nights BBQ so it wasn't a massive issue thankfully. On another side note, food stops were often a bit unorganised, so if you do this tour I would recommend taking a few supplies with you in advance. It may be different depending on the tour guide but this was my experience.

On the second day a few members of the group did a boat trip, whilst the rest of us went on a rainforest walk to a(nother) waterfall, I don't think I have ever seen so many waterfalls in one place than I did on this trip around Tas!

On the third day we headed off to Cradle Mountain. The adventurous sorts did some intense climb up the mountain, I didn't, and instead walked around Dove lake, which took a good few hours in itself and was stunning, if cold, wet and windy!

Dove Lake

Bay of Fires

Day 4 four we were in Launceston and walked Cataract Gorge, a really easy and pleasant walk. Before heading off to the East Coast and visiting the Bay of Fires, a beautiful peaceful afternoon spent on a beach in the glorious sun. We spent the evening in Bicheno, a peaceful and small town, where some of the group headed off to see the fairy penguins.

View of Bicheno

The next day we headed off to visit the Freycinet National Park and the famous Wineglass bay! The walk to the actual beach - is hard! Its not too problematic getting there but it is a struggle heading back, most of it is uphill and with my fitness levels not quite being what they should be, I got very out of breath, very quickly but worth it.

Wineglass Bay

Next we headed off to Ross, which is famous for its bakeries before heading to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary to see Tasmanian devils, koala's and feed red kangaroos - a lovely end to the trip.

 


After we returned to Hobart, I flew back Sydney the next day where I spent the last 4 days of my Australian adventure before catching my flight home. A truly amazing year of memories, laughter, friendship and freedom, one I will treasure for forever and crave frequently.

Australia I heart you, thank you for the best year of my life.x x x

The Red Center Part II - Alice to Adelaide

Off we set, bright and early, meeting the tour guide and a 6 foot 7 160kg Bosnian man who later became known as Tiny outside of our hostel and off we set to Uluru!

This tour was with Groovy Grape on the Rock to Water 6 day tour. We had a really small group, there were only 6 of us in total, Nicola and I, Tiny, a 19 year old German couple and an older Spanish lady, random mix of people but we all got on well, which is all you ask for really when you are on the road with people for 6 days.

Camel Farm

Garden of Eden (Kings Canyon)

Our first day consisted of heading towards a camel farm for a quick stop and a ride if you fancied, on to Kings Canyon, where we trekked for three hours in blazing blazing heat, it was hard work but a great view and the beginning of the intense trekking days ahead of us. That evening we set up camp for another night of swag sleeping before rising early to head to Uluru and experience The Rock! I had been so excited about this tour, getting to see such an iconic part of Australia. On the way we stopped off to collect firewood and when I say collect I mean pull down branches from dead trees and break them to size able arms - be careful here I caused an awful cut on my upper left arm, a spike of wood literally tore through my skin leaving a good 6 inches puncture wound and horrendous bruising at the top of my arm. It wasn't serious but it hurt, my war wound for the trip!

Kings Canyon

Antilla

We 'stumbled' across Antilla which is a small rock formation in comparison to Uluru but the sight that everyone goes 'Is that...?' to the amusement of the tour guides I'm sure as they tell us 'No it's not'. We dropped our belongings at the what would be our home for the next two nights, and then later in the afternoon after the peak sun had died down we headed off to Uluru. We were extremely lucky that we ventured to Uluru on this afternoon as due to the increasing temperature, the next day Uluru was closed for groups to walk around. Even when we attended certain parts were still closed but we got around most of it before heading off to make dinner and watch the sunset over the rock.

The next morning we watched sunrise over Uluru and The Olgas before heading off to hike Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and the Valley of the Winds. This was my favourite hike, it literally felt like being on another planet, winding through amazing rock formations, it was hard work but like the others a real sense of achievement was felt once completed. We then had a bit of down time in the afternoon, so we drove back to Uluru but unfortunately the day was even hotter today (over 40 degrees) and so Uluru had been completely closed for any walking today. I haven't really gone in to much detail about the heat and the weather, but if you are planning on going and especially if you are planning on doing a DIY tour please please please research it first. On three hour hikes we had to carry 3 litres of water, the amount you sweat you need to replenish your lost water and salt and you need to aim for a litre every hour. Dehydration is one of the biggest threats when you are in the Northern Territory, do not underestimate it. Its also important to ensure that you replenish your salt, so use this in cooking. Carry rehydration tablets with you, a hat and SUNSCREEN. You will burn badly without it, you are not invincible and it will hurt and ruin your trip. We visited Uluru at the beginning of October and it was already in the 40's, the best time to visit is during the Australian winter months, but even then it is still hot. Another thing that is mentioned as much are the flies and insects - they are a bugger and unless you walk around with a mosquito net over your head / whole body they will get everywhere but its best to just except it and try to forget about them, as there isn't that much else you can do.

Kata Tjuta sunrise

Valley of the Winds

Day four we headed off to Coober Peddy, the opal capital of Australia.  before heading to Coober Peddy where we were staying in underground bun houses but the majority of people live underground in houses built in caves. This keeps the temperature of the house at between 21-25 degrees all year round. Its a strange little place, but visiting the opal shop and museum was interesting, and it made a nice change to sleep in a bed as opposed to in a swag. That night was our party night, after far too many drinking games and drunkard conversations, we hit the sack, ready to face the next day in a few hours. I thankfully was fine the next day, Nicola on the other hand spent most of it on her back sleeping, so it was a good job that most of the day was spent travelling. Stopping only a few times, one being  at a salt lake, (Lake Frome i think but I could be mistaken).

Salt Lake

Our next stop was a bush camp up near the Flinders Rangers, after dinner we all sat around the campfire and relaxed before another early start the next day. It was the owners birthday, so there was a nice jolly group of us and locals chatting away under the stars around a campfire. The scent of bonfire didn't leave my clothes for a while but it was a great reminder of a fabulous trip and enjoyable night with some very generous people.

Our last day and off we trotted to walk through Alligator Gorge, a less intense walk than the ones we had completed over the past five days, the scenery being a lot wetter, greener and richer too as we were now in Southern Australia, but it still required a good degree of physical fitness and agility as it still had some tricky formations. That's one thing I should say about the previous walks were that they were tricky, thin ledges, uneven rock formations, long drops make sure you invest in some good sturdy walking shoes and any other supports or equipment you may need to ensure you can complete the walks safely.

Flinders Ranges

Our final afternoon and it involved a lovely stop at a winery in Clare Valley, unfortunately I can't remember the name of it otherwise I would recommend it and then onwards to Adelaide. After saying our goodbyes (and its surprising how fond you can become of people after only 6 days) we checked into a hostel - Annies Place. Now we stayed here because we enjoyed our stay at Annies in Alice so much but I would NOT recommend staying at Annie's in Adelaide, unless you are a stoner and enjoy being high as a kite because that was basically all the staff and other guests staying there did. So we went our for dinner, thankful that we had booked a girls dorm with only one other girl in it and were checking out the next day.

I stayed in Adelaide for a few more days to visit friends and family before heading back to Melbourne to see Matt Corby and say my final goodbyes there also. After the last amazing two weeks on my favourite Australian adventure I was off to Tasmania for my final trip before heading home.

Last view of Uluru

The Red Center Part I - Darwin to Alice Springs

I finished up with work and life in Melbourne, packed my rucksack and set off on my most favourite adventure, down the red center.

This time around I had a friend to travel with, Nicola (whoop) and we started our 2 weeks in Darwin.
We spent 3 nights in Darwin, staying at the Melaleuca on Mitchell, which is situated on Mitchell Street one of the main streets in Darwin. If I'm honest, I didn't really like Darwin too much, it reminded me of a Spanish holiday strip like Magaluf or Tenerife. We went out a few times to different bars but we decided to try and see and do more around the top of the Northern Territory, before heading off on our 3 day Cicada Dreaming Safari.

We did a day trip to Litchfield National Park where we started off holding snakes, going on a jumping crocodile cruise and swimming in various watering holes. That evening we went to Mindil beach and market in the evening, which is a really popular haunt, they have lots of food stalls and you basically grab what you fancy, get some beers and head to the beach to eat and drink and watch the sunset. We chilled out by the lagoon, which is a lovely part of Darwin and lazed around the hostel. It was nice, and it took me a good few days to fully relax and get into holiday mode! And if I'm honest (and Nic won't mind me saying this) - adjusting to travelling with somebody who embodies organised chaos. I kid you not when I say the minute Nicola put that 85 litre rucksack (don't ask how she carried it, I guess its the Scottish in her...) it EXPLODED to cover as much of the floor space and even my bed as possible. Now when you're travelling you don't have a lot of things which are 'yours' in terms of space and territory, you share a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, a lounge, you share everything so the bed, 'my' bed is my space, that's my little sanctuary please don't invade it, its more than your life is worth. But once I'd learnt to look back and laugh (as opposed to pull my hair out at Nic's antic's) it all fell into place nicely and off we set on the first of our 3 day trips with Way Out Back.

Mindil Beach

Way Out Back's, 3-day Cicada Dreaming Safari, was a really relaxed and chilled out saunter down from Darwin to Alice Springs. We spent a lot of time lazying around in (freshwater) crocodile infested watering holes, viewing gorgeous waterfalls, visiting the Devils Marbles, Katherine Gorge, Mataranka thermal springs, Tropic of Capricorn, the Daly Waters pub and first ever airport in the NT, staying at a Banka Banka cattle station and having my first ever experience of sleeping in a swag.

Devil's marbles

Now if you don't know what a swag is, let me explain ... a swag is basically a waterproof canvas sleeping bag, with a thin mattress built into the bottom, into which you place a sleeping bag and a pillow and then yourself, and sleep (peacefully) under the stars. Unless of course you are Nicola and then you cocoon yourself inside it so tightly and pull the flap up over your head, almost suffocating to avoid and creepy crawlies getting you in the night. A slightly hilarious sight, but one of the reasons we all love her for it.

On the third day we arrived at Alice Springs, a random, tiny town in the center of Australia. I really liked Alice for its simplicity and oddity, I guess. It helped we stayed in a really nice hostel - Annie's Place. We had a little issue when we first checked in that basically a guy hadn't checked out of the 4 bed dorm that we went into and so we got upgraded to our own private room! It would have been funny if we hadn't established with the guy who's bed Nic had stolen, the fact that there were five of us in a four bed dorm, we had images of her crawling into bed with him after our night out! Any who after the kerfuffle we adopted this guy as our little pal and took him out with us when we got so drunk on the second night. Note to you all - be careful drinking a lot, not eating properly and being out in 40 degree plus heat the next day - its a killer. I was quite ill because of it. Nothing that a bit of watermelon and a sleep didn't sort out but it wasn't my best moment. Anyway Annie's was great and I'd recommend it. Also a note, if you go to Alice after about 7/8pm DO NOT walk around on your own, even if you are in a group - always get a taxi, its a small town so never too expensive and there are too many troubles to be had with ostracised aborigines that its not worth getting mugged or attacked for the sake of an $8 taxi ride.

Drinks in Alice

On our last night we said our goodbyes to a a friend we had made on the 3 day tour, made dinner and then hit the sack for the second part of our adventure - Alice to Adelaide and most importantly ULURU!!

What I'll miss from Australia

So I am in my final few weeks of my travels in Australia and it got me thinking as to the things I will miss most about Oz and I came up with:

Coffee - England does not know how to make good coffee. Which means I may have to give up the old caffeine hit before it leads me to great disappointment and misery.

Sunshine - although I chose to live in the city with probably the worst weather it doesn't matter because when the sun is shining it is the most glorious feeling in the world.

Beaches - I've never been a beach bunny and I'm quite happy being pale, but I love the ocean, the sunsets from a beach and the electrical storms. Beautiful.

The mindset - Australia knows that life is not meant to be all work and no play. It promotes a balance between the two and with the advantage of having beautiful and diverse landscapes it's pushes people to get out and explore.

Music - There is a great unsigned music scene here and there are so many great artists. I'll definitely be listening to Triple J online once I get home!

Sense of freedom - OK so this isn't solely linked to Australia but I have loved just being able to take off and leave whenever I feel like it. I'm not looking forward to heading back to bills and boring lifeness. Boooooo.

But what am I looking forward to returning to...

Cheap alcohol - it is expensive over here!!

My acting - its been a year and I miss it terribly.

Decent clothes shops - the fashion over here isn't the best and its also very overpriced for poor quality garments.

Hummus - it just tastes odd over here.

Men with a sense of humour - don't get me wrong there are some gorgeous men over here that I am more than happy to stare at but they just aren't as on the ball with the banter as the British lads.

See you soon people!

Pruning - my experience of regional work

I'm not really too sure where to start with this blog, I'd quite like to make it insightful for any other backpackers who come across it and want a truthful perspective on regional work. But it is just that, my perspective, so other experiences may be better or worse, depending on the work, the farm, the area.

I only ended up sticking it out for one month and hated nearly every single minute of it. 

Regional work and in my case pruning, is boring. Fact. 

I, like most people I imagine, hate boring, monotonous tasks.

To add to the fact that it is boring, I am also an over-thinker, boring job + over-thinking = worst job ever.

8 hours of working a day doing the same repetitive motion of cutting vines is also a killer physically. I ended up in agony, to the point where I couldn't use my right arm properly because I had pulled the muscles or tendons so much and it took a good two weeks after I left for it to heal fully. You also end up with horrendous cramps in your hands (my friend who stuck it out for 3 months, wakes up with her hands frozen in a claw from using the electric secateurs).

I'm also not a very strong girl, so I definitely think that didn't help, because it meant that my body was already at a disadvantage and also that I couldn't zip through the pruning as quickly as the farmer wanted me too, which also meant that I didn't make very much money at all. I was on a $1 per vine and would make between $65-$85 dollars a day, my friend who I was working with was a lot better than me and was pruning about $100 a day. After keep was taken from my pay, I wasn't left with a lot. But I guess you have to weigh up if you are in it for the monetary reward as well as the second year visa, depending on what your motivation is, may mean you can or cannot stick it out.

Originally I went to the farm with the plan to do my 3 months in one lot, as opposed to the 88 days spread out. Would I still do this now? I think to be honest I would attempt to do it in two lots of 44 days, I feel that that would be much more bearable mentally and physically, for me anyway.

The below is a very brief guide of what would I recommend if you were looking to do your regional work:

1. Do it in a busy farm / backpackers place - a good few friends of mine went to Mildura and actually had a really good time and made some great mates. So I would recommend heading there from what I've heard.
2. Avoid vineyards - they are probably one of the hardest jobs to do.
3. Avoid Western Australia (half joking / half serious - I'm slightly scared by my experience)
4. Be prepared for the most boring 3 months of your life. Ever.
5. Don't leave it until the end of your time in Australia to complete because if you can't get work or don't like the farm, you are at a serious disadvantage.
6. Be prepared for farmers to be sexist - there are obviously some great bosses out there but also some w*nkers. And if they aren't the nicest, don't put up with crap - yes they can replace you quicker than you can sneeze but that shouldn't be a reason for them to take the mickey i.e. in pay (a lot of places do) or in treatment - if you wouldn't put up with it in a 'normal' place of work, why put up with it here?
7. Only do it if you know you really want the 2 year visa.

Would I change whether or not I did my month of regional work knowing what I know now? No, I would still do it, because it was an enlightening experience, a tough one but still a worthwhile experience in a lot of respects and that's what I came here for. But if I could have told the farmer where he could of stuck his secateurs - that would have made me very happy indeed.

Beautiful skies - one saving grace

War wounds

Bane of my life

In action

The Great Ocean Road / Adelaide and Perth

I left Melbourne at the end of May and did the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide. It has taken me until now (late July) to get around to writing up this part of my adventure and to be honest with you it may take me a while to recall all of it! But I'll give it ago...

Leaving Melbourne was sad but I was also extremely excited to be heading off to see and discover more of Oz. After eventually managing to re-cram everything back into my back pack and rucksack I left Port Melbourne early on the 24th May. The final part of my Oz Experience bus was operated by Bunyip Tours and involved a 3 day trip to along the Great Ocean Road and Grampians. The Great Ocean Road in its entirety was simply stunning, we were extremely lucky and had very good weather for most of the trip, so the sunshine simply added to the breathtaking views. The first day consisted off stopping at Bells Beach which is one of Australia's most famous surfing beaches, after having a stroll along here we headed off to stop at and admire the views from Lorne and Apollo Bay, both two small coastal towns. We then headed to Cape Otway Lighthouse for a spot of lunch before heading off to the 12 Apostles and Gibson's steps.

Bells Beach

The 2nd day we started off fairly early to re-visit the 12 Apostles in a different light, we then continued on to visit London Bridge, the Bay of Isles and the Bay of Martyrs before heading into the Grampians, stopping off at an Aboriginal Cultural centre. The next day was spent mostly exploring the Grampians; Mackenzie Falls and Wonderland (which the best way to describe this is lots of rock formations that you can walk/climb across) before those of us who were heading to Adelaide got dropped off to catch another coach.

Bay of Martyrs (I think)

12 Apostles

Grampians

London Bridge

Glenelg Beach

4/5 hours later we arrived in Adelaide. I spent the first night at the YHA in the city center, good location for exploring the city and reasonably priced too, even for non members (as some YHA's can be fairly overpriced in my opinion). I spent my first day in Adelaide walking around a large part of the city, I took myself off to the National Wine Centre which is nestled in a corner of the Botanical Gardens, I had a quick nose in the SA museum (but I felt a bit museumed out by the time I got here towards the end of the day). the SA art gallery and the jam factory (no its not a jam factory its another art gallery). Around mid afternoon I headed off to Glenelg which is where I was staying for 2 more nights, its a tram ride out of the city to a little seaside town, which in the summer is hugely popular but as I was in low season was very very quiet (much like Adelaide in general). On my last day before I flew from Adelaide to Perth I went to Victor Harbor to spend the day with some family that I hadn't seen for more than a decade. It was so lovely to catch up with them, which surprisingly (and thankfully) wasn't awkward in the slightest. Sam and Uncle Dick took me around Victor Harbor to show me the popular tourist town, we had a spot of lunch and then had a walk around the Island of Granite.

Granite Island

Adelaide as a city, is far too quiet and small for me but I can understand why a lot of families settle there - it has a real suburban feel, even in the CBD. As I was only there for a flying visit I unfortuantely didn't get to travel to any wineries but I am hoping to go back in September / October so will ensure that I pay them a visit then!

After goodbyes with my family and re-packing my rucksack once again, the next morning I was off to catch my flight to Perth. A note I have made to myself if not to fly with Jetstar ever again, they are the easyjet of Australia and although they get you from A-B, I ended up being charged for a few more kilo's that I was carrying (even after throwing away a lot of things including my hairdryer!) and I realised that for the extra money that I ended up spending I may have simply have booked with Virgin and had a more pleasant experience than I did but you live and learn. So my advice for any backpackers out there, unless you are traveling very light or definitely within the weight limit I'd recommend not flying with Jetstar (or Tiger - I have heard they are even worse) and paying that little bit more for a far superior service which includes food and entertainment!

In Perth I decided to stay at the Wickham Retreat, which is a really small hostel in comparison to a lot of other places I have stayed, I think they had a capacity of around 30 people, so it had a lovely cosy homely feel and situated in East Perth. Its a tad more expensive but if you are looking at staying a while if you speak with the owner who is always on the property, apparently he can do deals so its a lot more reasonable - I only found this out once I had left, but I still really liked staying there. I was only in Perth initially for 3 nights whilst I was waiting to head south to start my regional work. I can't comment too much on Perth as I didn't get to see or experience that much of it, but I will say these few things - the centre of Perth is...not the nicest of area's, even though parts of the shopping centre and surrounding look like it has recently been re-done it has quite a run down / down trodden feel to it. They do however offer three free bus services around the main parts of the city, which is great if you're a tourist! I took myself off to Fremantle one day, which I would recommend when the markets are on, either a Friday or a Saturday and also to Kings Park, which has simply the most amazing view of the city. I didn't feel particularly safe in Perth so didn't really venture out at night but I did take myself to a quirky little cinema to see The Great Gatsby (loved it!).

View from Kings Park of Perth city

On the Saturday morning I was picked up by the farmer and his wife and I was taken off to Boyup Brook to commence my 3 months on a vineyard completing my regional work. Needless to say, it didn't work out as planned I am now writing this blog from back in Melbourne....my next post details my time pruning in WA. Which is now thankfully only a memory.