Tasmania

Well I have begun my travels again. I am spending the next month with Shannon, a friend I met through working at Citibank. Our first stop was Hobart in Tasmania. Shannon had organised for us to stay with a family for our first three nights. This was through a great website called coughsurfing.com. Basically people sign up as travels or people who will have travellers to stay for free - brilliant or what!! The family we were staying with were Gai and John who lived up in Mount Nelson - just west of the CDB. They were really lovely (and we didn't have to sleep on their couch - we got proper beds - actually they were nicer beds than what we had both been sleeping on the last 7 months in Sydney!!). We spent 3 nights with them and in that time we set about discovering Hobart and its surrounding areas. On our first day we went to the Cadbury's factory - at Shannon's request - she is a chocoholic. It was interesting - although I am sure the one in Birmingham is probably better - as it is the original, plus the chocolate is apparentley better - as the one they produce in Australia is just not up to scratch!! On the second day we went to Port Arthur - where there is loads of history about the convicts - just up my street as that was one of the modules I studied for my degree. We (or I in particular) had a lovely day discovering more about the history of the convicts and seeing where it all actually happened. We also drove around that area and saw some lovely beaches and views. For those of you who don't already know Tasmania is very similar to England and New Zealand with its landscape. On our third day we drove up to Lauceston as Shannon had arranged another activity for us. This time it was through another website called helpx.com. This is where you stay with someone and do 3-4 hours 'work' for them a day in exchange for a bed and all your meals. We stayed with a lady called Yvonne who lives in west Lauceston with two of her four children, her mother and up to 5 helpx people at once. When we were there there was us two and two Taiwan girls. On our first day there we went to a park to celebrate the Chinese New Year with the local Chinese community - the food of course was great!! Our 'work' has not been that strenuous at all. So far we have done some cleaning around the house (it desperately needed it), picking fruit from her orchard and making jam and cooking a dinner - it definitely beats working at Citibank!!! Yvonne is a lovely lady, although very crazy - she even admits it herself. She has some amazing stories including the time she climbed half way up the Sydney Opera House!!!!

We spent 5 days with Yvonne - which I think was about all I could handle in the end. She was lovely but she is a very erratic person!! Shannon and I then met up with our two friends from Sydney, Craig and Amo. We then all hired a car together and spent the next 3 days driving around Tasmaina. We first went to Bicheno on the East Coast where we got to see Fairy Penguins at night - they were very cute. The following day we went to the Nature Park where we got to stroke Wombats Kagaroos and of course Tasmania Devils (the babies were sooo cute). We also got to feed the Kagaroos - who if you didn't put you hand down to the group stood up high on their back legs and tried to grab your hand - quite scary!! Amazingly we also saw a mummy kangaroo with her joey in her pouch :-) We then drove down to Wineglass bay where we did a 4 hour walk and saw some beautiful beaches and lots of wallabies (a smaller version of the kangaroo for those of you who don't know). After that we drove down to Hobart where we went out for the night. Craig, Amo and myself stayed out till 6.30am (unfortunately we forgot we had to get up at 9am to check out in time - we did not feel good!!). We then drove back up to Lauceston past the Great Lake, which unfortunately now is not so great due to the drought that this country is going through - it was now in fact about 4 lakes as the water levels had dropped so much!! We then dropped Amo and Craig back at the airport and Shannon and myself made our way to Gowrie Park (a very pretty place in the mountains where I saw a wild baby wombat) where from there we went to Cradle Mountain the next day (the main sightseeing place in Tasmania). We had a lovely walk around Dove lake, taking in the magnificent view of Cradle Mountain before heading back to Lauceston. Then, unfortunately, we had to leave Tasmania for Melbourne.

and goodbye Manly :-(

Well today is my last day in Manly before I set off for my travels. I'm really going to miss this place - it has been great living here for the last 7 months. Being by the beach has been great. I have spent the last two days trying to pack up my stuff - you would not believe the junk I have accumulated in that time (although I'm sure my parents can believe it!!). I am off to Tasmania tomorrow where I am going to spend 2 weeks travelling around there with some friends. Then I'm going back to Melbourne, where a friend and I will drive from there to Adelaide along the Great Ocean Road which should be great (as long as we don't break down or crash!!). I then head to Perth where I will spend 3 or more months travelling around the west side of Australia. It's all very exciting - although I'm sure it won't take me long before I get fed up of my backpack again!! I've tried really hard to not pack too much but once again that has proved impossible!!

Anyway I will do my best to keep you updated with what I get up to - hopefully some of it will be interesting!!

For those of you who are interested I am planning on being back in the UK at Christmas time this year - thats as long as I don't get distracted and decide to go somewhere else!!

Goodbye Citibank

Once again I am unemployed - at least it was my choice. I had my last day at Citibank yesterday. All went ok, but I did work very hard - no chance of enjoying my last day in peace and quiet!! I have to say that in my last two weeks at Citi I have probably worked harder than the whole 5 1/2 other months put together!! I had to train someone to do my job which was exhausting and then get everything completed and make sure everything would run smoothly after I left. At least I am now out of there and I don't have to worry about it anymore!! So I now have 12 days left before I leave for Tasmania to sort myself out, pack, throw out loads of stuff and of course celebrate my birthday - just in case you guys don't know I'm 21 again!!

So with all this free time on my hands I think the first thing I'm going to do is go to the beach - Its a tough life!!

Our 'Walkabout' or 'Sailabout'

Sorry to those of you who actually check this blog, I'm not very good at keeping it up-to-date. My life really isn't exciting enough to write something every other day - or whatever people do on blogs. Anyway....two weeks ago I went to Melbourne to watch some Tennis. I had a brilliant time. I went to the Kooyong tournament where I got to see Federer, Roddick, Safin and Murray to name a few. Then I went to the Australian Open (where tickets for the main arena cost less than ground passes for Wimbledon - absolutely crazy - but great for me!!). So I went to two day sessions and a night session where I saw lots of plays, Federer (again), Muresmo, Sharapova, Hewitt and many others. While I was in Melbourne I stayed with the Imries, who are friends of the family. They were really nice and it was great being back in a family atmosphere again (and a proper house!!) - plus I got home cooked meals again which was just fantastic. You seriously don't realise how much you miss the simple things in life until you go travelling (or become lazy and can't be bothered to do it for yourself!!).

Then last weekend I went on a camping/canoeing trip in Kangaroo Valley (which should be renamed as I have now been there 3 times and have never seen a Kangaroo!!). Anyway, there were 8 of us in total who were on this 3 day trip, Myself (obviously), Will, Ben, Phil, Sally, Dan, Zoe and Katie (see picture above). We arrived on Friday morning and set up camp at the camp site. Once everybody had arrived we went down to the river for the afternoon and had a lovely time swimming and relaxing. By the way Friday was Australian Day, so all the Aussies were going mad about being Australian so the best thing to do was to leave Sydney!!

In the evening we had a lovely BBQ, before returning to our tents and drinking and talking. Eventually we went to bed (although this proved pointless for me because I didn't get a wink of sleep). One of the reasons for this was the fact that someone had left the garbage bag near our tent and some creature decided to investigate it. It then proceeded to trip over our tent ropes twice in the night which scared the sh*t out of me. Now as many of you might know, Australian wildlife are not know for being friendly. So there I was the only one awake, listening to this creature wondering what the hell it was. I really wanted to know, but just in case it turned out to be a growling, teeth bearing Dingo I decided the best option was to stay in the tent.

Eventually morning came (that would be 6am for those of you who don't realise it exist!). We got up, packed and had bacon sarnies for brekkie - wonderful!! We then made our way down to the canoe centre were we again packed up our stuff in to plastic barrels and then packed up the canoes. Once down at the river we set off. We were all making great progress floating down the river (which you might all think would be pretty easy floating down a river rather than up - I beg to differ!!). After an hour the wind picked up, so much that if you stopped rowing the canoe started floating up the river!!! So for the next 2 hours we killed ourselves trying to get down the river to our camp (please bear in mind I am doing all this with a broken elbow - yes it is broken - I had a scan last week and it shows that my elbow is clearly not whole - apparently its going to take another 2 months to heal - great!!).

Eventually we made it, we found the red roof house which apparently was just before half way and settled for the first camp we found (which in fact turned out to be the best). We unpacked and set up camp, and then spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out, swimming and having a laugh. Night time was slightly better - I got one hour of sleep this time. This time it had more to do with the fact that camping is actually very uncomfortable and my arms hurt like hell after the canoeing so everytime I lent on my side I was in a huge amount of pain. Luckily, there were no scary animals this time, although we all did hear something walking around, but we think it might of just been a wombat - or even a Kangaroo!!

The next morning we woke up to the most wonderful view (picture above - camping does pay off sometimes!!). We left camp at 10am and proceeded to continue down the river. Again the wind was not with us, but at least it wasn't as bad as the day before. Luckily we stopped for lunch just at the right time when the wind really picked up and nearly took away our canoes while we were sitting on the beach!! Eventually at 2.30pm we arrived at our destination, we had a celebratory swim (it was very hot). It was then back to the canoe shop, which involved the most terrifying 30 minutes drive of your life. The minibus driver felt the need to pelt it down the country roads, with no consideration for the passengers (of whom there were more than the legal limit allowed in the bus because a lot of canoe groups had arrived at once so he crammed everyone in). I found the best way to get through this was to close my eyes!!

We then headed back to Manly, where I had a lovely, well deserved bath and a good nights sleep :-)

Off Again!!

I forgot to mention that I have handed in my resignation at Citibank and will have my last day of work on 2nd February - yeah!!! I then go to Tasmania on 15th Feb for 2 weeks before heading to Adelaide for 2 weeks. I will be in travelling with my friend Shannon, whom I met at Citibank, for the first month. She then flies from Adeliade to Cairns (I've already done the East Coast) and I head to Perth. That is all I have planned so far.

A little update on the elbow, as I'm sure you are all very concerned!! I have been to see the Orthopaedic Surgeon who is a little unsure with what is wrong - fills you with confidence doesn't it!! He has sent me to have a CT scan which I will do next week which will apparently give a bit more detail than a normal x-ray. I hope they figure it out soon as they have less than 4 weeks before I leave!! At least I don't have to wear a sling anymore, except when I'm out. Apparently people in Australia find it very hard to avoid walking into someone with a very obvious white sling on!! It has been unbelievable the amount of people who have walked into me or barged past!! Although it has been very advantageous when I have been meeting up with people as they can spot me a mile off!!!

What a way to start the New Year!!

I am sorry for not updating my blog but there is a very good reason for that as you will find out. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a fantastic New Year. I had a great time. I went up to Byron Bay for Christmas and spent it will friends of the family. It was great to be with people I know. I went swimming in the sea in the morning and then of course in traditional Aussie style we had a BBQ for our Christmas meal - excellent!!

Then of course there was New Year's Eve, which was excellent until I started to make my way home!! Some friends and I were on a boat in Sydney Harbour - the best place to be for NYE! We went to the harbour to board our boat and while waiting we spotted the English Cricket Team who were also going to be on a boat (The Morpheus) for NYE. Might explain why we lost 5-0 when they were out drinking before their match!! So we boarded our boat - The Pacific Princess and began our celebrations. Once we had boarded we found out that our boat was amongst the few selected to participate in the NYE parade. This meant that the boat had been decorated with lights and we would be sailing around in front of the bridge - you couldn't ask for a better position for the fireworks!! We had a lovely meal and some Champagne to start the night off. The first set of fireworks went off at 9pm so we watched them from the top deck of the boat. Then we returned down below for some games and dancing. The 'Skipper' of the boat was a 'jolly' man who felt the need to have selected people put on a bit of fancy dress and make fools of themselves - luckily I managed to avoid this!! But it was very entertaining watching my friends ;-) After that we danced (yes there was a dance floor and we had all had a bit to drink so it seemed like a great idea!).

We then returned to the upper deck to watch the fireworks at midnight which were amazing - they are certainly the best in the world!! We stayed on the boat for a while longer before returning to land. This is where everything changes - up until then I had had a fantastic night. So on our way back to Circular Quays to catch the ferry back to Manly, some absolute idiot ran right across my path and I tripped over his back leg and fell, landing on my right elbow. I managed to get up and discovered my elbow hurt soooo much. Before you all say that it was obviously the alcohol - yes I had been drinking but I was not very drunk. One of my friends was walking behind me and said I didn't have a chance. Anyway, we had to continue to the ferry as there wasn't a lot I could do and the guy who tripped me up didn't hand around. Once on the ferry, I decided that I really needed to go to hospital as it was hurting way too much and I couldn't move it. I met a couple of the boat who knew where the Manly Hospital was and as it was on their way home they would show me the way. So once off the ferry I went with this couple, who as it turned out were in the middle of an argument and considering splitting up. This was quite funny for me as they were being very nice to me but very rude to each other.

So eventually I reached the hospital, registered my presence and sat down. I had a look around me and noticed 3 men spread out in the waiting area trying to sleep - I thought to myself this can't be good. So after 45 minutes of waiting and not a lot happening I went to the reception to be told that I would have to wait at least another 1 hour (it was already 4.45am and I was shattered!) to be seen and that the x-ray department wasn't open till 8am anyway - Great! So I left and made my way back home. Eventually at 5.30am I got home and was let in by my housemate who was on her way out to work!!!!!!

Anyway, when I got up 3 hours later, I returned to the hospital and waited an hour till I got an x-ray and then another hour before I saw a doctor who told me he wasn't sure what the problem was and that they were going to get the the Orthpaedic Registrar to return from his day off to have a look - oh dear!! 2 hours later I was very bored and decided to see what was happening (I personally felt they had forgotten me!). 'Oh yes' they said, 'we will get someone to see you now' !!!!! The nice doctor kindly told me that I had fractured my elbow and that it would take 4-6weeks to heal - Brilliant!!!!!! What a great way to start the New Year!!!!!!!!!!!

So here I am, arm in a sling - waiting for it to heal!!

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